Salt (?), n. [AS. sealt; akin to
OS. & OFries. salt, D. zout, G. salz, Icel., Sw.,
& Dan. salt, L. sal, Gr. ?, Russ. sole, Ir. &
Gael. salann, W. halen, of unknown origin. Cf.
Sal, Salad, Salary, Saline, Sauce,
Sausage.] 1. The chloride of sodium, a
substance used for seasoning food, for the preservation of meat, etc.
It is found native in the earth, and is also produced, by evaporation
and crystallization, from sea water and other water impregnated with
saline particles.
2. Hence, flavor; taste; savor; smack;
seasoning.
Though we are justices and doctors and churchmen . . .
we have some salt of our youth in us.
Shak.
3. Hence, also, piquancy; wit; sense; as,
Attic salt.
4. A dish for salt at table; a
saltcellar.
I out and bought some things; among others, a dozen of
silver salts.
Pepys.
5. A sailor; -- usually qualified by
old. [Colloq.]
Around the door are generally to be seen, laughing and
gossiping, clusters of old salts.
Hawthorne.
6. (Chem.) The neutral compound formed
by the union of an acid and a base; thus, sulphuric acid and iron form
the salt sulphate of iron or green vitriol.
☞ Except in case of ammonium salts, accurately speaking, it is
the acid radical which unites with the base or basic radical, with the
elimination of hydrogen, of water, or of analogous compounds as side
products. In the case of diacid and triacid bases, and of dibasic and
tribasic acids, the mutual neutralization may vary in degree,
producing respectively basic, neutral, or acid
salts. See Phrases below.
7. Fig.: That which preserves from corruption
or error; that which purifies; a corrective; an antiseptic; also, an
allowance or deduction; as, his statements must be taken with a grain
of salt.
Ye are the salt of the earth.
Matt. v. 13.
8. pl. Any mineral salt used as an
aperient or cathartic, especially Epsom salts, Rochelle salt, or
Glauber's salt.
9. pl. Marshes flooded by the
tide. [Prov. Eng.]
Above the salt, Below the salt,
phrases which have survived the old custom, in the houses of
people of rank, of placing a large saltcellar near the middle of a
long table, the places above which were assigned to the guests of
distinction, and those below to dependents, inferiors, and poor
relations. See Saltfoot.
His fashion is not to take knowledge of him that is
beneath him in clothes. He never drinks below the
salt.
B. Jonson.
-- Acid salt (Chem.) (a)
A salt derived from an acid which has several replaceable hydrogen
atoms which are only partially exchanged for metallic atoms or basic
radicals; as, acid potassium sulphate is an acid salt.
(b) A salt, whatever its constitution, which
merely gives an acid reaction; thus, copper sulphate, which is
composed of a strong acid united with a weak base, is an acid
salt in this sense, though theoretically it is a neutral
salt. -- Alkaline salt (Chem.), a
salt which gives an alkaline reaction, as sodium carbonate. --
Amphid salt (Old Chem.), a salt of the
oxy type, formerly regarded as composed of two oxides, an acid and a
basic oxide. [Obsolescent] -- Basic salt
(Chem.) (a) A salt which contains more of
the basic constituent than is required to neutralize the acid.
(b) An alkaline salt. -- Binary
salt (Chem.), a salt of the oxy type conveniently
regarded as composed of two ingredients (analogously to a haloid
salt), viz., a metal and an acid radical. -- Double
salt (Chem.), a salt regarded as formed by the
union of two distinct salts, as common alum, potassium aluminium
sulphate. See under Double. -- Epsom
salts. See in the Vocabulary. -- Essential
salt (Old Chem.), a salt obtained by
crystallizing plant juices. -- Ethereal salt.
(Chem.) See under Ethereal. --
Glauber's salt or salts. See
in Vocabulary. -- Haloid salt (Chem.),
a simple salt of a halogen acid, as sodium chloride. --
Microcosmic salt. (Chem.). See under
Microcosmic. -- Neutral salt.
(Chem.) (a) A salt in which the acid and
base (in theory) neutralize each other. (b) A
salt which gives a neutral reaction. -- Oxy
salt (Chem.), a salt derived from an oxygen
acid. -- Per salt (Old Chem.), a
salt supposed to be derived from a peroxide base or analogous
compound. [Obs.] -- Permanent salt, a salt
which undergoes no change on exposure to the air. --
Proto salt (Chem.), a salt derived from a
protoxide base or analogous compound. -- Rochelle
salt. See under Rochelle. -- Salt of
amber (Old Chem.), succinic acid. --
Salt of colcothar (Old Chem.), green
vitriol, or sulphate of iron. -- Salt of
hartshorn. (Old Chem.) (a) Sal
ammoniac, or ammonium chloride. (b) Ammonium
carbonate. Cf. Spirit of hartshorn, under
Hartshorn. -- Salt of lemons.
(Chem.) See Salt of sorrel, below. --
Salt of Saturn (Old Chem.), sugar of
lead; lead acetate; -- the alchemical name of lead being
Saturn. -- Salt of Seignette. Same
as Rochelle salt. -- Salt of soda
(Old Chem.), sodium carbonate. -- Salt of
sorrel (Old Chem.), acid potassium oxalate, or
potassium quadroxalate, used as a solvent for ink stains; -- so called
because found in the sorrel, or Oxalis. Also sometimes inaccurately
called salt of lemon. -- Salt of tartar
(Old Chem.), potassium carbonate; -- so called because
formerly made by heating cream of tartar, or potassium tartrate.
[Obs.] -- Salt of Venus (Old Chem.), blue
vitriol; copper sulphate; -- the alchemical name of copper being
Venus. -- Salt of wisdom. See
Alembroth. -- Sedative salt (Old Med.
Chem.), boric acid. -- Sesqui salt
(Chem.), a salt derived from a sesquioxide base or
analogous compound. -- Spirit of salt.
(Chem.) See under Spirit. -- Sulpho
salt (Chem.), a salt analogous to an oxy salt,
but containing sulphur in place of oxygen.
Salt, v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Salted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Salting.] 1. To sprinkle, impregnate, or
season with salt; to preserve with salt or in brine; to supply with
salt; as, to salt fish, beef, or pork; to salt
cattle.
2. To fill with salt between the timbers and
planks, as a ship, for the preservation of the timber.
To salt a mine, to artfully deposit minerals
in a mine in order to deceive purchasers regarding its value.
[Cant] -- To salt away, To salt
down, to prepare with, or pack in, salt for preserving,
as meat, eggs, etc.; hence, colloquially, to save, lay up, or invest
sagely, as money.
Salt (?), v. i. To deposit salt as
a saline solution; as, the brine begins to salt.
Salt (?), n. [L. saltus, fr.
salire to leap.] The act of leaping or jumping; a
leap. [Obs.] B. Jonson.
Salt (?), a. [Compar.
Salter (?); superl. Saltest.] [AS.
sealt, salt. See Salt, n.]
1. Of or relating to salt; abounding in, or
containing, salt; prepared or preserved with, or tasting of, salt;
salted; as, salt beef; salt water. "Salt
tears." Chaucer.
2. Overflowed with, or growing in, salt water;
as, a salt marsh; salt grass.
3. Fig.: Bitter; sharp; pungent.
I have a salt and sorry rheum offends
me.
Shak.
4. Fig.: Salacious; lecherous; lustful.
Shak.
Salt acid (Chem.), hydrochloric
acid. -- Salt block, an apparatus for
evaporating brine; a salt factory. Knight. -- Salt
bottom, a flat piece of ground covered with saline
efflorescences. [Western U.S.] Bartlett. -- Salt
cake (Chem.), the white caked mass, consisting of
sodium sulphate, which is obtained as the product of the first stage
in the manufacture of soda, according to Leblanc's process. --
Salt fish. (a) Salted fish,
especially cod, haddock, and similar fishes that have been salted and
dried for food. (b) A marine fish. --
Salt garden, an arrangement for the natural
evaporation of sea water for the production of salt, employing large
shallow basins excavated near the seashore. -- Salt
gauge, an instrument used to test the strength of brine;
a salimeter. -- Salt horse, salted
beef. [Slang] -- Salt junk, hard salt beef
for use at sea. [Slang] -- Salt lick. See
Lick, n. -- Salt
marsh, grass land subject to the overflow of salt
water. -- Salt-marsh caterpillar
(Zoöl.), an American bombycid moth (Spilosoma
acræa which is very destructive to the salt-marsh grasses
and to other crops. Called also woolly bear. See Illust. under
Moth, Pupa, and Woolly bear, under
Woolly. -- Salt-marsh fleabane
(Bot.), a strong-scented composite herb (Pluchea
camphorata) with rayless purplish heads, growing in salt
marshes. -- Salt-marsh hen (Zoöl.),
the clapper rail. See under Rail. -- Salt-
marsh terrapin (Zoöl.), the diamond-
back. -- Salt mine, a mine where rock salt
is obtained. -- Salt pan. (a)
A large pan used for making salt by evaporation; also, a shallow
basin in the ground where salt water is evaporated by the heat of the
sun. (b) pl. Salt works. --
Salt pit, a pit where salt is obtained or
made. -- Salt rising, a kind of yeast in
which common salt is a principal ingredient. [U.S.] --
Salt raker, one who collects salt in natural
salt ponds, or inclosures from the sea. -- Salt
sedative (Chem.), boracic acid. [Obs.] --
Salt spring, a spring of salt water. --
Salt tree (Bot.), a small leguminous tree
(Halimodendron argenteum) growing in the salt plains of the
Caspian region and in Siberia. -- Salt water,
water impregnated with salt, as that of the ocean and of certain
seas and lakes; sometimes, also, tears.
Mine eyes are full of tears, I can not see;
And yet salt water blinds them not so much
But they can see a sort of traitors here.
Shak.
-- Salt-water sailor, an ocean mariner.
-- Salt-water tailor. (Zoöl.) See
Bluefish.