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nitrate

US/ˈnaɪˌtɹeɪt/
nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #8,088 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: nitrates

A nitrate is a salt used in fertiliser and in preserving meat. Nitrate levels, potassium nitrate, nitrate in the water.

In farming it is what makes plants grow and what runs off into rivers, where it feeds algae and starves the water of oxygen. In curing, nitrate keeps ham pink and holds off the bacteria that cause botulism.

Definitions of nitrate

  1. 1nounnitrateA salt used in fertiliser and in preserving meat.B2+

    “Farmers spread nitrate on their fields to help the crops grow.”

nitrate is a salt.

Where it comes from

  1. French

    nitrate

  2. English, today

    nitrate

Borrowed from French nitrate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

nitrate in the wild

  • Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula KNO3.

    Potassium nitrate

  • Potassium nitrate is one of several nitrogen-containing compounds collectively referred to as saltpetre (or saltpeter in American English).

    Potassium nitrate

  • Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula NH4NO3.

    Ammonium nitrate

  • Accidental ammonium nitrate explosions have killed thousands of people since the early 20th century.

    Ammonium nitrate

  • Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula NaNO3.

    Sodium nitrate

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.