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worth one's salt

 [sawlt]   Origin

salt

1   [sawlt]
noun
1.
a crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring as a mineral, a constituent of seawater, etc., and used for seasoning food, as a preservative, etc.
2.
table salt mixed with a particular herb or seasoning for which it is named: garlic salt; celery salt.
3.
Chemistry. any of a class of compounds formed by the replacement of one or more hydrogen atoms of an acid with elements or groups, which are composed of anions and cations, and which usually ionize in solution; a product formed by the neutralization of an acid by a base.
4.
salts, any of various salts used as purgatives, as Epsom salts.
5.
an element that gives liveliness, piquancy, or pungency: Anecdotes are the salt of his narrative.
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6.
wit; pungency.
7.
a small, usually open dish, as of silver or glass, used on the table for holding salt.
8.
Informal. a sailor, especially an old or experienced one.
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verb (used with object)
9.
to season with salt.
10.
to cure, preserve, or treat with salt.
11.
to furnish with salt: to salt cattle.
12.
to treat with common salt or with any chemical salt.
13.
to spread salt, especially rock salt, on so as to melt snow or ice: The highway department salted the roads after the storm.
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14.
to introduce rich ore or other valuable matter fraudulently into (a mine, the ground, a mineral sample, etc.) to create a false impression of value.
15.
to add interest or excitement to: a novel salted with witty dialogue.
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a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
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adjective
16.
containing salt; having the taste of salt: salt water.
17.
cured or preserved with salt: salt cod.
18.
inundated by or growing in salt water: salt marsh.
19.
producing the one of the four basic taste sensations that is not sweet, sour, or bitter.
20.
pungent or sharp: salt speech.
Verb phrases
21.
salt away,
a.
Also, salt down. to preserve by adding quantities of salt to, as meat.
b.
Informal. to keep in reserve; store away; save: to salt away most of one's earnings.
22.
salt out, to separate (a dissolved substance) from a solution by the addition of a salt, especially common salt.
Idioms
23.
with a grain of salt, with reserve or allowance; with an attitude of skepticism: Diplomats took the reports of an impending crisis with a grain of salt.
24.
worth one's salt, deserving of one's wages or salary: We couldn't find an assistant worth her salt.
Origin:
before 900; (noun and adj.) Middle English; Old English sealt; cognate with German Salz, Old Norse, Gothic salt; akin to Latin sāl, Greek háls (see halo-); (v.) Middle English salten, Old English s(e)altan; compare Old High German salzan, Old Norse salta, Dutch zouten; see salary

Related forms
salt·like, adjective

Synonyms
5. flavor, savor. 8. See sailor.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

salt
O.E. sealt (n. and adj.), from P.Gmc. *saltom (cf. O.S., O.N., O.Fris., Goth. salt, Du. zout, Ger. Salz), from PIE *sal- "salt" (cf. Gk. hals (gen. halos) "salt, sea," L. sal, O.C.S. soli, O.Ir. salann, Welsh halen, O.C.S. sali "salt"). Meaning "experienced sailor" is first attested 1840, in ref. to
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the salinity of the sea. Salt was long regarded as having power to repel spiritual and magical evil. Many metaphoric uses reflect that this was once a rare and important resource, cf. worth one's salt (1830), salt of the earth (O.E., after Matt. v:13). Belief that spilling salt brings bad luck is attested from 16c. To be above (or below) the salt (1597) refers to customs of seating at a long table according to rank or honor, and placing a large salt-cellar in the middle of the dining table. The verb is from O.E. sealtan, from P.Gmc. *salto-. Salt-lick first recorded 1751; salt marsh is O.E. sealtne mersc. Salt-and-pepper "of dark and light color" first recorded 1915. To take something with a grain of salt is from 1647, from Mod.L. cum grano salis. Saltine "salted cracker" is from 1907; salt-water taffy (1894) so called because it originally was sold at seashore resorts, esp. Atlantic City, N.J.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

salt (sôlt)
n.

  1. A colorless or white crystalline solid, chiefly sodium chloride, used extensively as a food seasoning and preservative.

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

  3. salts Any of various mineral salts, such as magnesium sulfate, sodium sulfate, or potassium sodium tartrate, used as laxatives or cathartics.

  4. salts Smelling salts.

  5. salts Epsom salts.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
salt   (sôlt)  Pronunciation Key 

  1. Any of a large class of chemical compounds formed when a positively charged ion (a cation) bonds with a negatively charged ion (an anion), as when a halogen bonds with a metal. Salts are water soluble; when dissolved, the ions are freed from each other, and the electrical conductivity of the water is increased. See more at complex salt, double salt, simple salt.

  2. A colorless or white crystalline salt in which a sodium atom (the cation) is bonded to a chlorine atom (the anion). This salt is found naturally in all animal fluids, in seawater, and in underground deposits (when it is often called halite). It is used widely as a food seasoning and preservative. Also called common salt, sodium chloride, table salt. Chemical formula: NaCl.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

worth one's salt definition


Worth one's salary (a word that comes from the Latin for salt) or wages. From the Roman custom of paying soldiers money to buy salt.

salt definition


In chemistry, a compound resulting from the combination of an acid and a base, which neutralize each other.

Note: Common table salt is sodium chloride.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

salt definition


  1. n.
    a sailor. (Especially with old.) : I've sailed a little, but you could hardly call me an old salt.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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worth (one's) salt definition


  1. mod.
    worth (in productivity) what it costs to keep one. : You're not worth your salt. Pack up!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
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