The Collaborative International Dictionary
fulminate of mercury \ful"mi*nate of mer"cu*ry\, n. (Chem.) The mercury salt of fulminic acid ( Hg(CNO)2), called also mercury fulminate. It is prepared as gray crystals, and is used primarily in detonators for detonating high explosives, such as dynamite or TNT.
mercury fulminate \mer"cu*ry ful"mi*nate\, n. (Chem.) The mercury salt of fulminic acid ( Hg(CNO)2), called also fulminate of mercury. It is an explosive compound prepared as gray crystals, and is used primarily in detonators for detonating high explosives, such as dynamite or TNT. It is sensitive to shock and may be detonated by a blow.
WordNet
n. a fulminate that when dry explodes violently if struck or heated; used in detonators and blasting caps and percussion caps [syn: fulminate of mercury, fulminating mercury]
Wikipedia
Mercury(II) fulminate, or Hg(CNO), is a primary explosive. It is highly sensitive to friction and shock and is mainly used as a trigger for other explosives in percussion caps and blasting caps. Mercury(II) cyanate, though its empirical formula is identical, has a different atomic arrangement; the cyanate and fulminate anions are isomers.
First used as a priming composition in small copper caps after the 1830s, mercury fulminate quickly replaced flints as a means to ignite black powder charges in muzzle-loading firearms. Later, during the late 19th century and most of the 20th century, mercury fulminate or potassium chlorate became widely used in primers for self-contained rifle and pistol ammunition. Mercury fulminate has the distinct advantage over potassium chlorate of being non-corrosive, but it is known to weaken with time. Today, mercury fulminate has been replaced in primers by more efficient chemical substances. These are non-corrosive, less toxic and more stable over time; they include lead azide, lead styphnate and tetrazene derivatives. In addition, none of these compounds require mercury for manufacture, supplies of which can be unreliable in wartime.
Usage examples of "mercury fulminate".
Radio wave that activates an electric cell that burns the wire in a mercury fulminate detonator.
The natives were just about finished loading the ship with black powder, ammonium nitrate, and mercury fulminate.
He made the mercury fulminate detonators himself, packing each one inside a sealed aluminum tube about the size of a mechanical pencil.
Pet had drilled each of the boxes so that the mercury fulminate pencils snapped into position instantly.
Once we made mercury fulminate, an unstable explosive which involved reacting deadly poisonous mercury and cyanide.
I had purely mechanical weapons made for half my party, several days ago - percussion caps of mercury fulminate setting off a chemical explosion - thunderish hard to shoot straight with 'em, but at close quarters we can fill you with lead and he's powerless to stop it.
But get them out in the field in a combat exercise, or anything that gets them keyed up and full of adrenaline, and they're as explosive as a hatful of mercury fulminate.