Crossword clues for gunpowder
gunpowder
- Content of some shells
- Flintlock need
- A mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur in a 751510 ratio which is used in gunnery, time fuses, and fireworks
- Explosive power dung could provide!
- Explosive invented in 9th-century China
- Explosive force catching duke on arm
- Rev might, after inviting duke in for tea
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Explosive \Ex*plo"sive\, n.
An explosive agent; a compound or mixture susceptible of a rapid chemical reaction, as gunpowder, TNT, dynamite, or nitro-glycerine.
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A sound produced by an explosive impulse of the breath; (Phonetics) one of consonants p, b, t, d, k, g, which are sounded with a sort of explosive power of voice.
Note: [See Guide to Pronunciation, [root] 155-7, 184.]
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. An explosive mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal and sulphur; formerly used in gunnery but now mostly used in fireworks.
WordNet
n. a mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur in a 75:15:10 ratio which is used in gunnery, time fuses, and fireworks [syn: powder]
Wikipedia
Gunpowder, also known as black powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate ( saltpeter). The sulfur and charcoal act as fuels, and the saltpeter is an oxidizer. Because of its burning properties and the amount of heat and gas volume that it generates, gunpowder has been widely used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks. Formulations used in blasting rock (such as in quarrying) are called blasting powder. Gunpowder is mainly used in older guns now because the propellants used today are too powerful and could break the already fragile barrels.
Gunpowder was invented in the 9th century in China, and the earliest record of a written formula for gunpowder appears in the 11th century Song dynasty text, Wujing Zongyao. This discovery led to the invention of fireworks and the earliest gunpowder weapons in China. In the centuries following the Chinese discovery, gunpowder weapons began appearing in the Muslim world, Europe, and India. The technology spread from China through the Middle East or Central Asia, and then into Europe. The earliest Western accounts of gunpowder appear in texts written by English philosopher Roger Bacon in the 13th century.
Gunpowder is assigned the UN number UN0027 and has a hazard class of 1.1D. It has a flash point of approximately 427–464 °C (801–867 °F). The specific flash point may vary based on the specific composition of the gunpowder. Gunpowder's specific gravity is 1.70–1.82 (mercury method) or 1.92–2.08 (pycnometer), and it has a pH of 6.0–8.0.
Gunpowder is classified as a low explosive because of its relatively slow decomposition rate and consequently low brisance. Low explosives deflagrate (i.e., burn) at subsonic speeds, whereas high explosives detonate, producing a supersonic wave. Ignition of the powder packed behind a bullet must generate enough pressure to force it from the muzzle at high speed, but not enough to rupture the gun barrel. Gunpowder thus makes a good propellant, but is less suitable for shattering rock or fortifications. Gunpowder was widely used to fill artillery shells and in mining and civil engineering to blast rock until the second half of the 19th century, when the first high explosives were put into use. Gunpowder is no longer used in modern explosive military warheads, nor is it used as main explosive in mining operations due to its cost relative to that of newer alternatives such as ammonium nitrate/fuel oil ( ANFO). Black powder is still used as a delay element in various munitions where its slow-burning properties are valuable.
- Gunpowder or "black powder" is a propellant used in early firearms; smokeless powders are a more modern propellant used in newer firearms
- Gunpowder tea, a type of green tea that looks like gunpowder
- Gunpowder is the name of Constable Ichabod Crane's horse in the film The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Gunpoder, Maryland, see Joppatowne
- Gunpowder River in Maryland, USA
- Gunpowder Plot
- Gunpowder Incident
"Gunpowder" is the fifth and final single released from Wyclef Jean's debut solo album, The Carnival. The song was successful in the US, where it reached #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Additionally, it reached #12 in the Hot Rap Singles chart and #56 in the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks. The single was the second of Jean's singles not to be released in the UK. The single was backed with a remix of album track "No Airplay".
Usage examples of "gunpowder".
Sails Sail-yards Ancors Cables Ropes Cords Gunns Gunpowder Shott Artillery Tackle Munition apparrell boate skiffe and furniture to the same belonging.
Greyfriars alone was silent in that babblement, for it had lost tower and bell in an explosion of gunpowder.
After this they brought him a bagge of gunpowder, which they carefully preserved till the next spring, to plant as they did their corne, because they would be acquainted with the nature of that seede.
Back River, Bush River, Gunpowder Creek,--lives there the man with soul so dead that his memory has cerements to wrap up these senseless names in the same envelopes with their meaningless localities?
That of the Spanish settlers was entirely ineffectual, and has remained so down to the present day, when still the shattered remnants of the Lules, Lenguas, Mocobios, and the rest, roam on their horses or in their canoes about the Chaco and its rivers, having received no other benefits from contact with the European races but gunpowder and gin.
The various explosives, such as gunpowder, black blasting powder, potassium chlorate powders, nitro-glycerine powders, etc.
Properly prepared, it is extremely inflammable, especially when it has been previously saturated with gunpowder, or boiled in a solution of nitrate or chlorate of potash.
The chief door was locked, and I saw at once that, failing a catapult or a mine of gunpowder, I could not possibly get through.
Before the roar of the artillery preparation that raged on a front of several tens of kilometres died down, the Germans, deafened by the thunder of their own batteries and blinded by the gunpowder smoke that enveloped their positions, saw the red balls of the explosions in their own trenches.
The results of this test, when compared with those of the Bichel gauge, indicate that, for explosives of high detonation, the lead block is quite accurate, but for slow explosives, such as gunpowder, the expansion of the gases is not fast enough to make comparative results of value.
Cyrus Harding and Ayrton had scarcely reached the corral when a sort of black snow like fine gunpowder fell, and instantly changed the appearance of the soil.
Emmanuel looked out, she had jumped away from the gunpowder, and was examining an enormous box enclosing a grandfather clock, the gilded facedecorated with three animated sailing ships on a sea of silverpeeping out behind the protective laths nailed over it.
The cool west wind had blown away the gunpowder smell, and now Duffy could catch the aroma of a pot of oniony stew cooking somewhere.
Congou and Souchong prevalent at many tables of gentility, and will have nothing else than Gunpowder and Pekoe for themselves.
Polynesians well, having helped to organize native troops in the Marquesas Islands where I was quartered at Popo Popo for two years, and in the Friendly Islands and in the Society Islands and in the Paradise Group, where I was the first man to introduce gunpowder.