gunpowder

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gunpowder^¹

/ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdə/ UK
/ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdɚ/ US
/ˈɡʊnˌpaʊdə/ Northern England
/ˈɡʌnˌpʌʊdəɾ/ Scotland

noun gunpowders

countable, uncountable An explosive mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal and sulfur; formerly used in gunnery but now mostly used in fireworks. 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!
abbreviation, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Ellipsis of gunpowder tea

verb gunpowders · gunpowdering · gunpowdered

transitive To destroy with gunpowder. […] he was […] never getting into quarrels with his neighbors and gunpowdering them out of house and home. His subjects loved him.

gunpowder^²

/ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdə/ UK
/ˈɡʌnˌpaʊdɚ/ US
/ˈɡʊnˌpaʊdə/ Northern England
/ˈɡʌnˌpʌʊdəɾ/ Scotland

Where it comes from

Possibly due to its smell resembling gunpowder during the British Raj.

noun

India, informal, uncountable Idli podi/milagai podi; ground-up dry spices mixed with oil and ghee and served alongside idli or dosa. 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.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: powder, ammunition, wildfire, fire, dust, wheel, pirate, powdered, blow, keg, cordite, dynamite, composition, gsr, baroud, black powder

Translations

Every language

noun explosive mixture

Español	pólvora, polvorín
한국어	화약 hwayak
日本語	火薬 kayaku
中文	火藥 /火药 huǒyào, 黑火藥 /黑火药 hēihuǒyào
हिन्दी	बारूद bārūd, बारूत bārūt
Kiswahili	baruti
Português	pólvora
Français	poudre à canon, poudre
Deutsch	Schießpulver, Schwarzpulver
Italiano	polvere da sparo, polvere pirica
Ελληνικά	μπαρούτι baroúti, πυρίτιδα pyrítida
Română	praf de pușcă
Русский	по́рох pórox, чёрный по́рох čórnyj pórox
Tiếng Việt	thuốc súng
العربية	بَارُود bārūd
עברית	אֲבַק שְׂרֵפָה, בָּרוּד barúd

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MLA

"gunpowder." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/gunpowder. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

gunpowder. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/gunpowder

Chicago

"gunpowder." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/gunpowder.

BibTeX

@misc{gunpowder_2026,
  title = {gunpowder},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/gunpowder},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}