nitroglycerine, -in
(naɪtrəʊˈglɪsərɪn)
[nitro- d.]
A violently explosive substance, having the form of a yellowish oily liquid, which is obtained by adding glycerine to a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids.
| 1857 Miller Elem. Chem., Org. 92 Nitroglycerin..and various other compounds may be obtained in this manner with facility. 1858 Fownes' Chem. (ed. 7) 504. 1879 H. George Progr. & Pov. vii. iv. (1881) 332 The other crowned heads of Europe sit, metaphorically speaking, upon barrels of nitro-glycerine. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 520 Nitro⁓glycerin is applied medicinally..in cases of heart disease. 1898 tr. Meyer's Hist. Chem. 568 Nitro-glycerine had been known as a chemical preparation, discovered by Sobrero, for fifteen years before it began to find extended application in 1862, as the results of Nobel's researches. |
| attrib. 1881 Times 2 Mar., In 1869 the Nitroglycerine Act was passed. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 958 In nitro⁓glycerine factories the men..do not work on Saturday. |