noun
saltpeter
sawlt-PEE-ter/ˌsɔltˈpit̮ər/
Potassium nitrate, a salt used in gunpowder and food curing.
White crystals of saltpeter sit beside a bottle labeled KNO3.
Etymology
The pieces mean “salt of rock”: saltpeter was named for its resemblance to salt encrusted on rock and its saline taste. The name describes those qualities of potassium nitrate.
In context
… we got salt this time to salt our soup usually we have to use the powder from our cartouche the saltpeter of the Gunpowder blackens teeth …
More examples
- The label identifies the white crystals as saltpeter.
- The historian explains saltpeter's former industrial uses.
- The museum displays a sealed container once used for saltpeter.
Forms
saltpeter