noun
- a white crystalline salt (potassium nitrate) used in making gunpowder, fertilizers, and preserving meat
Usage: chemistry; historical
Examples
- Saltpeter was a crucial ingredient in early gunpowder manufacturing.
- The miners extracted saltpeter from caves for the ammunition factory.
- Colonial Americans collected saltpeter from barn floors and cellars.
- The recipe called for sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter in specific proportions.
- Saltpeter deposits were valuable during wartime for making explosives.
- The chemist explained that saltpeter is potassium nitrate in crystalline form.