Adjacent Words

nitric acid definitions

	Tweet

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: acid used especially in the production of fertilizers and explosives and rocket fuels [syn: nitric acid, aqua fortis]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: French nitrique, from nitre niter, from Middle French Date: 1788 a corrosive liquid inorganic acid HNO₃ used especially as an oxidizing agent, in nitrations, and in making organic compounds (as fertilizers, explosives, and dyes)

Britannica Concise

Inorganic compound, colorless, fuming, highly corrosive liquid, chemical formula HNO3. A common laboratory reagent, it is important in the manufacture of fertilizers and explosives (incl. nitroglycerin), as well as in organic syntheses, metallurgy, ore flotation, and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. A strong acid, it is toxic and can cause severe burns. It attacks most metals and is used for etching steel and photoengraving.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nitric Ni"tric, a. [Cf. F. nitrique. See Niter.] (Chem.) Of, pertaining to, or containing, nitrogen; specifically, designating any one of those compounds in which, as contrasted with nitrous compounds, the element has a higher valence; as, nitric oxide; nitric acid. Nitric acid, a colorless or yellowish liquid obtained by distilling a nitrate with sulphuric acid. It is powerfully corrosive, being a strong acid, and in decomposition a strong oxidizer. Nitric anhydride, a white crystalline oxide of nitrogen (N2O5), called nitric pentoxide, and regarded as the anhydride of nitric acid. Nitric oxide, a colorless poisous gas (NO) obtained by treating nitric acid with copper. On contact with the air or with oxygen, it becomes reddish brown from the formation of nitric dioxide or peroxide.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Nitric acid is a strong colourless acid containing nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

Aquafortis, spirit of nitre.