sodium cyanide

American

noun

Chemistry.

a white, crystalline, deliquescent, water-soluble, poisonous powder, NaCN, prepared by heating sodium amide with charcoal: used chiefly in casehardening alloys, in the leaching and flotation of ore, and in electroplating.

sodium cyanide British

noun

a white odourless crystalline soluble poisonous compound with an odour of hydrogen cyanide when damp. It is used for extracting gold and silver from their ores and for case-hardening steel. Formula: NaCN

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of sodium cyanide

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Dangerous chemicals like mercury and sodium cyanide are used to separate the gold from the ore.

From BBC

It also confirmed there were no containers on board carrying sodium cyanide, as had been initially feared.

From BBC

Lloyds List, a shipping data company, said on Monday that it was carrying sodium cyanide.

From BBC

It later emerged that the Stena Immaculate was carrying jet fuel for the US defence department, while the Solong was carrying containers that previously contained the chemical sodium cyanide, among other cargo.

From BBC

The Solong was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide among its cargo, according to a report from maritime data provider Lloyd's List Intelligence.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023