smokeless powder


noun

any of various substitutes for ordinary gunpowder that give off little or no smoke, especially one composed wholly or mostly of guncotton.

Origin of smokeless powder

First recorded in 1885–90

Words nearby smokeless powder

Example sentences from the Web for smokeless powder

  • All smokeless-powder charges for mortars will be issued made up, ready for use, as the charges vary with each lot of powder.

    The Gunner's Examiner |Harold E. Cloke

British Dictionary definitions for smokeless powder

smokeless powder

noun

any one of a number of explosives that burn with relatively little smoke. They consist mainly of nitrocellulose and are used as propellants