saltpeter Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (KNO3) used especially as a fertilizer and explosive
    potassium nitrate; niter; nitre; saltpetre.

WordNet

Salt`pe"ter, Salt`pe"tre noun (Also<
  • Saltpeter
  • Saltpetre
)
Etymology
F. salpêtre, NL. sal petrae, literally, rock salt, or stone salt; Salt, and Petrify.
Definitions
  1. (Chem.) Potassium nitrate; niter, a white crystalline substance, KNO3, having a cooling saline taste, obtained by leaching from certain soils in which it is produced by the process of nitrification (see Nitrification, 2). It is a strong oxidizer, is the chief constituent of gunpowder, and is also used as an antiseptic in curing meat, and in medicine as a diuretic, diaphoretic, and refrigerant.

Webster 1913