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common salt

 - 6 dictionary results
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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common salt  
n.  
  1. See salt.

  2. Sodium chloride.

salt   (sôlt)   
n.  
  1. A colorless or white crystalline solid, chiefly sodium chloride, used extensively in ground or granulated form as a food seasoning and preservative. Also called common salt, table salt.

  2. A chemical compound formed by replacing all or part of the hydrogen ions of an acid with metal ions or electropositive radicals.

  3. salts Any of various mineral salts used as laxatives or cathartics.

  4. salts Smelling salts.

  5. Epsom salts. Often used in the plural.

  6. An element that gives flavor or zest.

  7. Sharp lively wit.

  8. Informal A sailor, especially when old or experienced.

  9. A saltcellar.

adj.  
  1. Containing or filled with salt: a salt spray; salt tears.

  2. Having a salty taste or smell: breathed the salt air.

  3. Preserved in salt or a salt solution: salt mackerel.

    1. Flooded with seawater.

    2. Found in or near such a flooded area: salt grasses.

tr.v.   salt·ed, salt·ing, salts
  1. To add, treat, season, or sprinkle with salt.

  2. To cure or preserve by treating with salt or a salt solution.

  3. To provide salt for (deer or cattle).

  4. To add zest or liveliness to: salt a lecture with anecdotes.

  5. To give an appearance of value to by fraudulent means, especially to place valuable minerals in (a mine) for the purpose of deceiving.

Phrasal Verb(s):
salt awayTo put aside; save.
salt outTo separate (a dissolved substance) by adding salt to the solution.

Idiom(s):
salt of the earthA person or group considered as the best or noblest part of society.

Idiom(s):
worth (one's) saltEfficient and capable.

[Middle English, from Old English sealt; see sal- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: common salt
Function: noun
: SALT 1a
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Science Dictionary
common salt  
See salt.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

common salt

mineral substance of great importance. The mineral form halite, or rock salt, is sometimes called common salt to distinguish it from a class of chemical compounds called salts

Learn more about common salt with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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