NITRIC ACID

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does nitric acid mean? 

• NITRIC ACID (noun)
  The noun NITRIC ACID has 1 sense:

1. acid used especially in the production of fertilizers and explosives and rocket fuels

  Familiarity information: NITRIC ACID used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NITRIC ACID (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Acid used especially in the production of fertilizers and explosives and rocket fuels

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

aqua fortis; nitric acid

Hypernyms ("nitric acid" is a kind of...):

acid (any of various water-soluble compounds having a sour taste and capable of turning litmus red and reacting with a base to form a salt)

Derivation:

nitrate (treat with nitric acid, so as to change an organic compound into a nitrate)

nitrify (convert into nitric acid, nitrous acid, or nitrate, especially with the action of nitrobacteria)

 Context examples 

The lipid soluble polyol ester of nitric acid belonging to the family of nitrovasodilators that exhibit vasodilatory property.

(Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate, NCI Thesaurus)

Toxic at high concentrations, it reacts with moisture in the air to form nitric acid, highly corrosive and hazardous to plants and animals.

(Nitrogen Dioxide, NCI Thesaurus)

A class of ester compounds of nitric acid (HNO3) and alcohols.

(Nitrate, NCI Thesaurus)

A class of dietary nitroso-compounds that are salts of nitric acid (HNO3).

(Dietary Nitrate, NCI Thesaurus/CRCH)

The exact composition of Cancell/Entelev is unknown, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has listed the components as inositol, nitric acid, sodium sulfite, potassium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, and catechol.

(Cancell, NCI Thesaurus)

A new study reports how the mechanism works: When fossil fuels are burned, sulfuric and nitric acid eventually fall back to earth in rain and snow, causing acidification of the soil.

(Previously unknown mechanism causes increased forest water use, National Science Foundation)