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salt
1[sawlt]
noun
a crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring as a mineral, a constituent of seawater, etc., and used for seasoning food, as a preservative, etc.
table salt mixed with a particular herb or seasoning for which it is named.
garlic salt;
celery salt.
Chemistry.any of a class of compounds formed by the replacement of one or more hydrogen atoms of an acid with elements or groups, which are composed of anions and cations, and which usually ionize in solution; a product formed by the neutralization of an acid by a base.
salts, any of various salts used as purgatives, as Epsom salts.
an element that gives liveliness, piquancy, or pungency.
Anecdotes are the salt of his narrative.
Synonyms: ,wit; pungency.
a small, usually open dish, as of silver or glass, used on the table for holding salt.
Informal.a sailor, especially an old or experienced one.
He's an old salt who'll be happy to tell you about his years at sea.
verb (used with object)
to season with salt.
to cure, preserve, or treat with salt.
to furnish with salt.
to salt cattle.
to treat with common salt or with any chemical salt.
to spread salt, especially rock salt, on so as to melt snow or ice.
The highway department salted the roads after the storm.
to introduce rich ore or other valuable matter fraudulently into (a mine, the ground, a mineral sample, etc.) to create a false impression of value.
to add interest or excitement to.
a novel salted with witty dialogue.
adjective
containing salt; having the taste of salt.
salt water.
cured or preserved with salt.
salt cod.
inundated by or growing in salt water.
salt marsh.
producing the one of the four basic taste sensations that is not sweet, sour, or bitter.
pungent or sharp.
salt speech.
verb phrase
to separate (a dissolved substance) from a solution by the addition of a salt, especially common salt.
Also salt down to preserve by adding quantities of salt to, as meat.
Informalto keep in reserve; store away; save.
to salt away most of one's earnings.
salt
2[sawlt]
adjective
lustful; lecherous.
SALT
3[sawlt]
SALT
1/ ɔː /
acronym
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks or Treaty
salt
2/ ɔː /
noun
a white powder or colourless crystalline solid, consisting mainly of sodium chloride and used for seasoning and preserving food
(modifier) preserved in, flooded with, containing, or growing in salt or salty water
salt pork
salt marshes
chem any of a class of usually crystalline solid compounds that are formed from, or can be regarded as formed from, an acid and a base by replacement of one or more hydrogen atoms in the acid molecules by positive ions from the base
liveliness or pungency
his wit added salt to the discussion
dry or laconic wit
a sailor, esp one who is old and experienced
short for saltcellar
to make someone's pain, shame, etc, even worse
a person or group of people regarded as the finest of their kind
with reservations; sceptically
efficient; worthy of one's pay
verb
to season or preserve with salt
to scatter salt over (an icy road, path, etc) to melt the ice
to add zest to
to preserve or cure with salt or saline solution
chem to treat with common salt or other chemical salt
to provide (cattle, etc) with salt
to give a false appearance of value to, esp to introduce valuable ore fraudulently into (a mine, sample, etc)
adjective
not sour, sweet, or bitter; salty
obsoleterank or lascivious (esp in the phrase a salt wit )
salt
Any of a large class of chemical compounds formed when a positively charged ion (a cation) bonds with a negatively charged ion (an anion), as when a halogen bonds with a metal. Salts are water soluble; when dissolved, the ions are freed from each other, and the electrical conductivity of the water is increased.
See more at complex salt double salt simple salt
A colorless or white crystalline salt in which a sodium atom (the cation) is bonded to a chlorine atom (the anion). This salt is found naturally in all animal fluids, in seawater, and in underground deposits (when it is often called halite). It is used widely as a food seasoning and preservative. Also called common salt, sodium chloride, table salt. Chemical formula: NaCl.
Other Word Forms
- saltlike adjective
- ˈٲԱ noun
- ˈˌ adjective
- ˈٱ adjective
- ˈپ adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of salt1
Origin of salt2
Word History and Origins
Origin of salt1
Idioms and Phrases
with a grain / pinch of salt, with reserve or allowance; with an attitude of skepticism.
Diplomats took the reports of an impending crisis with a grain of salt.
worth one's salt, deserving of one's wages or salary.
We couldn't find an assistant worth her salt.
rub salt in / into someone's wounds, to make someone's bad situation even worse.
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
"POWs are a particularly vulnerable category of witnesses, any evidence they give should be taken with a grain of salt."
"You should take everything you see on social media with a pinch of salt. A lot of content creators are not qualified, they are not health professionals."
Our brains know a cartoon isn’t real — be it a rascally rabbit, a culinary rat or a dragon with the same sheen as salt licorice — and yet our hearts gift it with life.
But somewhere on its journey, the white powder had been switched for salt.
“I would say the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. Two eggs over medium bacon, American cheese, salt, pepper and ketchup on a roll,” Dillon told host Sean Evans.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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