An explosive substance made by treating cotton with nitric acid, used in ammunition and explosives.
From 'gun' + 'cotton'. The term emerged in the 1840s after the invention of this explosive, which revolutionized ammunition and mining.
Guncotton was one of the first synthetic explosives, and it was so unstable that factories making it would randomly explode—one of the most dangerous jobs of the industrial era!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.