plural nitrates
1
: a salt or ester of nitric acid
2
: sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate used as a fertilizer
3
: any of several nitric-acid esters of cellulose : nitrocellulose
especially
: a product (such as celluloid film) made from cellulose nitrate
In the case of the Clark Gable Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), the nitrate original was destroyed before anyone noticed the transferred soundtrack was out of sync. —
Roy Hemming
Roy Hemming Examples of nitrate in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Like other dark, leafy green vegetables, beet greens contain nitrates and are high in beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin.
—Lauren Panoff, Verywell Health, 30 May 2025
Costing more than $114,000 to maintain annually, the refrigerated facility is essential to safeguard nitrate and acetate film stock.
—Ben Croll, Variety, 7 May 2025
Crucially, Jones’s group figured out how to strip the nitrate from beet juice to create an undetectable placebo, and found that athletes improved their performance when given regular beet juice but not nitrate-free beet juice.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 19 Apr. 2025
At the Missouri Botanical Garden, ecologist Matthew Albrecht has found that seeds respond variably to different combinations of light, temperature and increased levels of nitrates around them—signaling that vegetation around the seed has decayed, providing nutrients and space for young seedlings.
—Katarina Zimmer, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 May 2025
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Lauren Panoff, Verywell Health, 30 May 2025
Costing more than $114,000 to maintain annually, the refrigerated facility is essential to safeguard nitrate and acetate film stock.
—Ben Croll, Variety, 7 May 2025
Crucially, Jones’s group figured out how to strip the nitrate from beet juice to create an undetectable placebo, and found that athletes improved their performance when given regular beet juice but not nitrate-free beet juice.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 19 Apr. 2025
At the Missouri Botanical Garden, ecologist Matthew Albrecht has found that seeds respond variably to different combinations of light, temperature and increased levels of nitrates around them—signaling that vegetation around the seed has decayed, providing nutrients and space for young seedlings.
—Katarina Zimmer, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for nitrate
Cite this Entry
“Nitrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nitrate. Accessed 16 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
nitrate
noun
ni·trate
ˈnī-ˌtrāt 
-trət
1
: a chemical compound formed by the reaction of nitric acid with another substance
2
: nitrate of sodium or potassium used as a fertilizer
Medical Definition
nitrate
noun
ni·trate
ˈnī-ˌtrāt, -trət
: a salt or ester of nitric acid
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