nitrogen

noun, often attributive

ni·tro·gen | \ ˈnī-trə-jən

Definition of nitrogen

: a nonmetallic chemical element that under standard conditions is a colorless, odorless, inert gas, that constitutes 78 percent of the Earth's atmosphere, and that is used especially in the industrial synthesis of ammonia, as a component of inert atmospheres, and in liquid form as a refrigerant — see Chemical Elements Table

Examples of nitrogen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Blood meal is very high in nitrogen — 12-1.5-0.5 — and can burn plants. — Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, "Feed your garden beds now so they’ll be ready for spring," 22 Aug. 2019 Robbins and her team collected the sample, preserved it in liquid nitrogen, then sent it away to be analyzed. — Doug Johnson, Quartz, "Elephants and whales could give us the cure for cancer—unless we keep killing them," 14 Aug. 2019 One of the eye-catching demonstrations will incorporate those sugary Peeps put inside a vacuum to suck the air out of them, following by a dip into liquid nitrogen. — Dewayne Bevil, orlandosentinel.com, "Orlando Science Center: Moon Fest looks to space, messes with Peeps," 12 July 2019 For a storage fee of $1,600, the DNA is preserved in liquid nitrogen. — Roxanne Roberts, Washington Post, "When is the best time to clone your dog?," 10 July 2019 Put the gel in a tube and expose one end to a cold substance, like dry ice or liquid nitrogen. — Natalie R. Rubio, The Conversation, "So far cultured meat has been burgers – the next big challenge is animal-free steaks," 5 July 2019 All had undergone painful procedures and paid, in some cases, thousands of dollars to keep their materials suspended in liquid nitrogen at a constant −196°C. — Dov Fox, Vox, "The legal limbo of lost embryos," 3 July 2019 Cane explained that the shop uses nitrogen as a freezing agent in its specialty ice cream and that the gas was leaking from a storage tank measuring about 5 feet by 10 feet. — Doug Phillips, sun-sentinel.com, "Nitrogen leak sickens three, shuts Weston specialty ice cream shop for now," 7 June 2019 Above, dozens of packages containing frozen embryonic stem cells remain in liquid nitrogen in a laboratory at the University of Sao Paulo's human genome research center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in March 2008. — Kevin Flower, CNN, "FDA wins major victory in campaign against stem cell clinic," 4 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'nitrogen.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

17 Sep 2019

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Time Traveler for nitrogen

The first known use of nitrogen was in 1791

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More Definitions for nitrogen

nitrogen

noun

English Language Learners Definition of nitrogen

: a chemical that has no color or smell and that makes up a large part of the atmosphere

See the full definition for nitrogen in the English Language Learners Dictionary

nitrogen

noun

ni·tro·gen | \ ˈnī-trə-jən

Kids Definition of nitrogen

: a colorless odorless gaseous chemical element that makes up 78 percent of the atmosphere and forms a part of all living tissues

nitrogen

noun

ni·tro·gen | \ ˈnī-trə-jən

Medical Definition of nitrogen

: a common nonmetallic element that in the free form is normally a colorless odorless tasteless insoluble inert diatomic gas comprising 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume and that in the combined form is a constituent of biologically important compounds (as proteins, nucleic acids, and alkaloids) and hence of all living cells as well as of industrially important substances (as cyanides, fertilizers, dyes, and antibiotics) —symbol N — see Chemical Elements Table