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spirits of salt

British  

noun

  1. (functioning as singular or plural) a solution of hydrochloric acid in water

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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This primordial acid is more or less mixed with earthy matter in all actual acids; it is very pure in spirits of salt.

From Project Gutenberg

Other substances possessed of these properties—for instance oil of vitriol and spirits of salt—as they became known, were classed along with vinegar; but no attempts were made to clearly define the properties of these bodies till comparatively recent times.

From Project Gutenberg

To remove Corns.—Get four ounces of white diachylon plaster, four ounces of shoemaker's wax, and sixty drops of muriatic acid or spirits of salt.

From Project Gutenberg

To give a fine colour to mahogany, let the furniture be washed perfectly clean with vinegar, having first taken out any ink stains there may be, with spirits of salt, taking the greatest care to touch the stained part very slightly, and then the spirits must be instantly washed off.

From Project Gutenberg

Paper or parchment may be stained of a green colour, by gradually dissolving some copper filings in aqua-fortis, or the spirits of salt, putting in the filings till the ebullition ceases.

From Project Gutenberg