Defn: To combine or impregnate with nitrogen; to convert, by oxidation, into nitrous or nitric acid; to subject to, or produce by, nitrification.
NITRILE
Ni"trile ( or ), n. Etym: [See Nitro-.] (Chem.)
Defn: Any one of a series of cyanogen compounds; particularly, one of those cyanides of alcohol radicals which, by boiling with acids or alkalies, produce a carboxyl acid, with the elimination of the nitrogen as ammonia.
Note: The nitriles are named with reference to the acids produced by their decomposition, thus, hydrocyanic acid is formic nitrile, and methyl cyanide is acetic nitrile.
NITRITE
Ni"trite, n. Etym: [Cf. F. nitrite. See Niter.] (Chem.)
Defn: A salt of nitrous acid. Amyl nitrite, a yellow oily volatile liquid, used in medicine as a depressant and a vaso-dilator. Its inhalation produces an instantaneous flushing of the face.
NITRO-
Ni"tro- (.
1. A combining form or an adjective denoting the presence of niter.
2. (Chem.)
Defn: A combining form (used also adjectively) designating certain compounds of nitrogen or of its acids, as nitrohydrochloric, nitrocalcite; also, designating the group or radical NO2, or its compounds, as nitrobenzene. Nitro group, the radical NO2; — called also nitroxyl.