gunpowder
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See also: gun powder
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdɚ/
Etymology 1
Noun
gunpowder (countable and uncountable, plural gunpowders)
- An explosive mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal and sulphur; formerly used in gunnery but now mostly used in fireworks.
- ca. 1823, William E. Cormack, Cormack Papers, page 19/84 (note: on the annihilation of the Beothuk):
- They have been a bold, heroic, and purely self dependent nation, never having either courted,—or been subdued by—other Tribes or Europeans. But what early mind—a power—could face gunpowder and the firelocks? Hence their annihilation!
- Short for gunpowder tea.
Derived terms
- gunpowder chicken
- gunpowder empire
- gunpowderish
- gunpowderous
- Gunpowder Plot
- gunpowder tea
- Gunpowder Treason
- gunpowdery
Translations
explosive mixture
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Verb
gunpowder (third-person singular simple present gunpowders, present participle gunpowdering, simple past and past participle gunpowdered)
- (transitive) To destroy with gunpowder.
- 1875, John H. Kingsbury, Kingsbury Sketches, page 54:
- […] he was […] never getting into quarrels with his neighbors and gunpowdering them out of house and home. His subjects loved him.
See also
Etymology 2
Possibly due to its smell resembling gunpowder during the British Raj.
Noun
gunpowder (uncountable)
- (India, informal) Idli podi/milagai podi; ground-up dry spices mixed with oil and ghee and served alongside idli or dosa.
- 1989, Bombay: The City Magazine, page 26:
- Some restaurants try and give their dosas the "ethnic" touch by slipping along a small dish of mulaga podi-gunpowder mixed with oil as well, but that isn't always enough.
- 2015 June 12, Priyadarshini Nandy, “South India's Spice Hero: How to Make the Famous Gunpowder”, in NDTV:
- It was a hardcore Andhra lunch from a restaurant famous for its lunch meals. And that is where I had my first run-in with 'gunpowder'. And to be honest, I hated it.
- 2020 May 27, Pooja Pillai, “The Back Burner: Homemade molagapodi is easier than you think”, in The Indian Express:
- In fact, I’ve long suspected that the popularity of gunpowder or molagapodi outside South India has little to do with the burst of flavours it serves.
References
- ^ Atul Kochhar (2008) Benares: Michelin Starred Cooking: “29 ― It got its name because it apparently smells similar to the gunpowder used in rifles during the Raj.”