NITRE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nitre mean? 

• NITRE (noun)
  The noun NITRE has 1 sense:

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

  Familiarity information: NITRE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NITRE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(KNO3) used especially as a fertilizer and explosive

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

niter; nitre; potassium nitrate; saltpeter; saltpetre

Hypernyms ("nitre" is a kind of...):

nitrate (any compound containing the nitrate group (such as a salt or ester of nitric acid))

Holonyms ("nitre" is a substance of...):

fertiliser; fertilizer; plant food (any substance such as manure or a mixture of nitrates used to make soil more fertile)

Derivation:

nitric; nitrous (of or containing nitrogen)

 Context examples 

Some were condensing air into a dry tangible substance, by extracting the nitre, and letting the aqueous or fluid particles percolate; others softening marble, for pillows and pin-cushions; others petrifying the hoofs of a living horse, to preserve them from foundering.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)