Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The univalent anionic group NO3, derived from nitric acid, or a compound containing this group.
  • noun Fertilizer consisting of sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate.
  • transitive verb To treat with nitric acid or a nitrate, usually to change (an organic compound) into a nitrate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To treat or prepare with nitric acid: as, nitrated guncotton.
  • To convert (a base) into a salt by combination with nitric acid.
  • noun Important experiments have been made on an industrial scale for the production economically of nitrates from atmospheric air by high-tension electrical discharges through moist air in the presence of basic materials.
  • noun A salt of nitric acid.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) A salt of nitric acid.
  • noun a white crystalline salt (AgNO3), used in photography and as a cauterizing agent; -- called also lunar caustic, and more commonly called silver nitrate.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun chemistry Any salt or ester of nitric acid.
  • verb To treat, or react, with nitric acid or a nitrate

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb treat with nitric acid, so as to change an organic compound into a nitrate
  • noun any compound containing the nitrate group (such as a salt or ester of nitric acid)

Etymologies

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