'Cubic niter' definitions:

Definition of 'Cubic niter'

From: GCIDE
  • Niter \Ni"ter\, Nitre \Ni"tre\, n. [F. nitre, L. nitrum native soda, natron, Gr. ?; cf. Ar. nit[=u]n, natr[=u]n natron. Cf. Natron.]
  • 1. (Chem.) A white crystalline semitransparent salt; potassium nitrate; saltpeter. See Saltpeter. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Chem.) Native sodium carbonate; natron. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • For though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me. --Jer. ii. 22. [1913 Webster]
  • Cubic niter, a deliquescent salt, sodium nitrate, found as a native incrustation, like niter, in Peru and Chile, whence it is known also as Chile saltpeter.
  • Niter bush (Bot.), a genus (Nitraria) of thorny shrubs bearing edible berries, and growing in the saline plains of Asia and Northern Africa. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'cubic niter'

From: GCIDE
  • Saltpeter \Salt`pe"ter\, Saltpetre \Salt`pe"tre\, (s[add]lt`p[=e]"t[~e]r), n. [F. salp[^e]tre, NL. sal petrae, literally, rock salt, or stone salt; so called because it exudes from rocks or walls. See Salt, and Petrify.] (Chem.) Potassium nitrate; niter; a white crystalline substance, KNO3, having a cooling saline taste, obtained by leaching from certain soils in which it is produced by the process of nitrification (see Nitrification, 2). It is a strong oxidizer, is the chief constituent of gunpowder, and is also used as an antiseptic in curing meat, and in medicine as a diuretic, diaphoretic, and refrigerant. [1913 Webster]
  • Chili salpeter (Chem.), sodium nitrate (distinguished from potassium nitrate, or true salpeter), a white crystalline substance, NaNO3, having a cooling, saline, slightly bitter taste. It is obtained by leaching the soil of the rainless districts of Chili and Peru. It is deliquescent and cannot be used in gunpowder, but is employed in the production of nitric acid. Called also cubic niter.
  • Saltpeter acid (Chem.), nitric acid; -- sometimes so called because made from saltpeter. [1913 Webster]