trinitrocellulose

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A name often, though improperly, applied to guncotton under the assumption that the formula of cellulose or pure cotton fiber is C₆H₁₀O₅ and that the action of nitric acid converts it into C₆H₇O₅(NO₂)₃: but this latter formula should be written C₆H₇O₂(NO₃)₃, since the product is not a nitro compound but a true nitrate, and the molecule of cellulose contains many times the number of atoms assumed in the above formula, which merely serves to indicate the relative proportions of the constituents.

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

• noun Gun cotton; -- so called because regarded as containing three nitro groups.

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

• noun gun cotton