PETN

noun

\ˌpē-ˌē-ˌtē-ˈen

\

Definition of PETN

: a crystalline ester C₅H₈N₄O₁₂ used as a powerful high explosive and medically in the treatment of angina pectoris … the experts determined that its explosive content was identical to that of the Honolulu bomb—PETN, an explosive undetectable by X-ray.— Steven Emerson

— called also pentaerythritol tetranitrate

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The first known use of PETN was in 1944

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