saltpeter or saltpetre: see potassium nitrate potassium nitrate, chemical compound, KNO₃, occurring as colorless, prismatic crystals or as a white powder; it is found pure in nature as the mineral saltpeter, or niter. (The name saltpeter is also applied to sodium nitrate, although less frequently.
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saltpetre

or nitre also spelled saltpeter or niter

Transparent, colourless, or white powder or crystals of potassium nitrate (KNO₃), found native in deposits. It is a strong oxidizing agent (see oxidation-reduction), used in fireworks, explosives, matches, fertilizers, glassmaking, steel tempering, and food curing; as a reagent; and as an oxidizer in solid rocket propellants. The term is also used for sodium nitrate (Chile saltpetre) and calcium nitrate (lime saltpetre), both of which are used in the nitric acid industry and as fertilizers, and for ammonium nitrate (Norway saltpetre), a high explosive and fertilizer.

saltpeter [sȯlt′pēd·ər]

(inorganic chemistry)

potassium nitrate

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No references found	Over the whole field, previously so gaily beautiful with the glitter of bayonets and cloudlets of smoke in the morning sun, there now spread a mist of damp and smoke and a strange acid smell of saltpeter and blood. War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo View in context Gunpowder was not invented by any one; it was the lineal successor of the Greek fire, which, like itself, was composed of sulfur and saltpeter. From The Earth To The Moon by Verne, Jules View in context Neither metals, saltpeter, nor coal can fail in the depths of the moon, and we need only go 8,000 leagues in order to fall upon the terrestrial globe by virtue of the mere laws of weight. Round The Moon by Verne, Jules View in context	saltatorial saltbox saltbox house saltbox roof saltbush salted weapon Salten, Felix saltern Salticidea saltierra Saltillo Salting Salting-Out salting-out effect saltmarsh saltmarsh plain Salto Salto Ángel Salton Sea Salton Sea State Recreation Area Salton Sink Saltonstall, Dudley Saltonstall, Leverett Saltonstall, Sir Richard Saltovo-Maiatskoe Culture saltpeter saltpeter cave saltpeter earth saltpetre Saltus Saltwater State Park saltworks Saltwort Salty Brine State Beach Saltychikha Saltykov, Aleksei Saltykov, Aleksei Aleksandrovich Saltykov, Fedor Saltykov, Fedor Stepanovich Saltykov, Mikhail Saltykov, Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov, Mikhail Glebovich Saltykov, Nikolai Saltykov, Nikolai Ivanovich Saltykov, Petr Saltykov, Petr Semenovich Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library Saltykov-Shchedrin, Mikhail Evgrafovich Salu Saluda Saluda County	Saltmine Saltmouth Saltness Saltness Saltness Salto Salto Salto Salto Angel Salto Angel Salto Ángel Salto Ángel Salto di qualita Salto di scaglione Salton Sea Salton Sea Salton Sea Geothermal System Salton Sea Restoration Fund Salton Sea Scientific Drilling Project Salton Sea State Recreation Area Salton Sea State Recreation Area Salton Sea Test Base Salton Sink Salton Sink Saltonstall, Dudley Saltonstall, Leverett Saltonstall, Sir Richard Saltovo-Maiatskoe Culture saltpan saltpan saltpeter Saltpeter acid saltpeter cave saltpeter earth saltpetre saltpetre saltpetre Saltpetrous SALTR salts salts salts salts salts salts away salts away salts away Salts of lemon salts of sorrel Salts of tartar Salts of tartar Salts of tartar salts out salts out salts out saltshaker Saltspring Women Opposed to Violence and Abuse SALTT saltus saltus Saltus wrench

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Over the whole field, previously so gaily beautiful with the glitter of bayonets and cloudlets of smoke in the morning sun, there now spread a mist of damp and smoke and a strange acid smell of saltpeter and blood.

War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo View in context

Gunpowder was not invented by any one; it was the lineal successor of the Greek fire, which, like itself, was composed of sulfur and saltpeter.

From The Earth To The Moon by Verne, Jules View in context

Neither metals, saltpeter, nor coal can fail in the depths of the moon, and we need only go 8,000 leagues in order to fall upon the terrestrial globe by virtue of the mere laws of weight.

Round The Moon by Verne, Jules View in context

saltpeter playV2('en/UK/sj/sjsgdhdnsysfdrsrd7srgh')

saltpetre

saltpeter