black powder
15
6.7
- noun
- /blæk ˈpaʊdər/
:
pólvora negra
- In the old museum, we found artifacts related to the use of black powder in historic firearms.
- pounds of black powder
- black powder smoke
- black powder musket
So the dude at the back after they fire once would make the charge and like how much black powder in the ball they were shooting and everything.
- So the dude at the back after they fire once would make the charge and like how much black powder in the ball they were shooting and everything.
Examples
-
The air is thick with black powder and wet grass.
Fiction book (1999) -
I just got a new Thompson Omega black powder rifle; it's now my go-to rifle for deer hunting.
Blog text (9) -
The smell of black powder burned right up my nose.
Blog text (10) -
Each arrow has a small charge of black powder attached to it.
Fiction book (1992) -
But he could not hide the black-powder smoke that rose every time he fired.
Fiction book (1992) -
The burning fuse leads to a sack of black powder.
Fiction book (1992) -
The heat is on to find the perfect, hand-mixed, black-powder formula.
-
The black powder is bound up in a small satchel and affixed to an arrow.
Fiction book (1992) -
"A 450 grain minie launched by 60 or more grains of black powder packs one hell of a wallop."
Blog text (11) -
Can a convicted felon legally own a black powder weapon (cap and ball revolver, muzzle-loading rifle, or shotgun, etc.)?
Blog text (11)
Synonyms
67
7.5
A dry mixture used to make explosions in guns and fireworks
51
3.2
A fine powder that burns quickly and makes explosions for guns and fireworks
How Smoky
15
6.7
- Specialized
1
5.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally clear — 'black' + 'powder' yields a powder that is black — so a B1 learner would grasp the literal sense. However, the specific historical/technical sense 'early form of gunpowder' requires world-knowledge or exposure; the precise referent (gunpowder/explosive) is not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Black powder is the name for the dark, dusty mix early makers made from a mineral, burnt wood and sulfur and used for fireworks and the first guns. That's why the parts black and powder are literal: it was a dark, loose substance and the early form of 'gunpowder'.