nitre
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of nitre
C14: via Old French from Latin nitrum, from Greek nitron natron
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The nitre beds were large rectangles of rotted manure and straw, moistened weekly with urine, “dung water,” and liquid from privies, cesspools and drains, and turned over regularly, according to accounts at the time.
From Washington Post • Jul. 9, 2020
On Nov. 13, 1862, the Confederate government advertised in the Charleston Daily Courier for 20 or 30 “able bodied Negro men” to work in the new nitre beds at Ashley Ferry, S.C.
From Washington Post • Jul. 9, 2020
Many of the records come from the Confederate nitre and mining bureau, which was set up to produce saltpeter, among other things.
From Washington Post • Jul. 9, 2020
They were in a long, dim cellar with barrel-vaulted ceilings, its stone walls spotted with nitre.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
The damp stone walls were splotchy with nitre, and the only light came from the sealed iron-and-glass oil lamp that Hallyne the Pyromancer carried so gingerly.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
