Lexic.us

Definition of Saltpetre

1. Noun. (KNO3) used especially as a fertilizer and explosive.

Definition of Saltpetre

1. Noun. Potassium nitrate. ¹

2. Noun. Sodium nitrate. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Saltpetre

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Saltpetre

1. Potassium nitrate; niter, a white crystalline substance, KNO3, having a cooling saline taste, obtained by leaching from certain soils in which it is produced by the process of nitrification (see Nitrification, 2). It is a strong oxidizer, is the chief constituent of gunpowder, and is also used as an antiseptic in curing meat, and in medicine as a diuretic, diaphoretic, and refrigerant. Chili salpeter, nitric acid; sometimes so called because made from saltpeter. Origin: F. Salpetre, NL. Sal petrae, literally, rock salt, or stone salt; Salt, and Petrify. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Saltpetre

Literary usage of Saltpetre

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Hazard's United States Commercial and Statistical Register edited by Samuel Hazard (1840)
"The same act specifies refined saltpetre as liable to a specific duty of three ... To determine, therefore, the true character of saltpetre for revenue ..."

2. Methods of Practical Hygiene by Karl Bernhard Lehmann (1893)
"saltpetre.—To give the meat a fine red colour, saltpetre is universally employed, ... About half the sausages contained no saltpetre at all. ..."

3. Chemical Technology; Or, Chemistry in Its Applications to the Arts and by Edmund Ronalds, Thomas Richardson, Henry Watts, Friedrich Ludwig Knapp (1865)
"As a considerable portion of the weight of this product is always due to foreign matters, and its value is solely dependant on the amount of pure saltpetre ..."

4. A Dictionary, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Commerce and by John Ramsey McCulloch (1852)
"Within the Inst 3 years, a new species of saltpetre, under the ... Though not applicable to all the purposes for which East India saltpetre is used, ..."

5. A Dictionary of Chemistry and the Allied Branches of Other Sciences by Henry Watts (1871)
"All gunpowder containing this variety of saltpetre would, of course, become moist in the same proportions, and would thus be rendered useless. ..."

6. A Handbook of Chemical Technology by Johannes Rudolf Wagner (1872)
"in saltpetre beds for the regular production of the salt. The chief and main condition of the formation of saltpetre, which succeeds equally in open fields ..."

7. Biennial Report by South Dakota, California State Board of Horticulture, State Athletic Commission (1890)
"It is remarkable that I obtained, repeatedly, after application of ammonia salts, considerably smaller yields than after saltpetre manuring. ..."

8. Biennial Report by California Dept. of Agriculture, California State Board of Horticulture (1890)
"It is remarkable that I obtained, repeatedly, after application of ammonia salts, considerably smaller yields than after saltpetre manuring. ..."

9. Hazard's United States Commercial and Statistical Register edited by Samuel Hazard (1840)
"The same act specifies refined saltpetre as liable to a specific duty of three ... To determine, therefore, the true character of saltpetre for revenue ..."

10. Methods of Practical Hygiene by Karl Bernhard Lehmann (1893)
"saltpetre.—To give the meat a fine red colour, saltpetre is universally employed, ... About half the sausages contained no saltpetre at all. ..."

11. Chemical Technology; Or, Chemistry in Its Applications to the Arts and by Edmund Ronalds, Thomas Richardson, Henry Watts, Friedrich Ludwig Knapp (1865)
"As a considerable portion of the weight of this product is always due to foreign matters, and its value is solely dependant on the amount of pure saltpetre ..."

12. A Dictionary, Practical, Theoretical, and Historical, of Commerce and by John Ramsey McCulloch (1852)
"Within the Inst 3 years, a new species of saltpetre, under the ... Though not applicable to all the purposes for which East India saltpetre is used, ..."

13. A Dictionary of Chemistry and the Allied Branches of Other Sciences by Henry Watts (1871)
"All gunpowder containing this variety of saltpetre would, of course, become moist in the same proportions, and would thus be rendered useless. ..."

14. A Handbook of Chemical Technology by Johannes Rudolf Wagner (1872)
"in saltpetre beds for the regular production of the salt. The chief and main condition of the formation of saltpetre, which succeeds equally in open fields ..."

15. Biennial Report by South Dakota, California State Board of Horticulture, State Athletic Commission (1890)
"It is remarkable that I obtained, repeatedly, after application of ammonia salts, considerably smaller yields than after saltpetre manuring. ..."

16. Biennial Report by California Dept. of Agriculture, California State Board of Horticulture (1890)
"It is remarkable that I obtained, repeatedly, after application of ammonia salts, considerably smaller yields than after saltpetre manuring. ..."

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