Wiktionary

gunpowder

See also: gun powder

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From gun +‎ powder.

Noun

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gunpowder (countable and uncountable, plural gunpowders)

  1. An explosive mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate), charcoal and sulphur; formerly used in gunnery but now mostly used in fireworks.
    • ca. 1823, William E. Cormack, Cormack Papers, page 19/84 (note: on the annihilation of the Beothuk):
      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!
  2. Short for gunpowder tea.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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gunpowder (third-person singular simple present gunpowders, present participle gunpowdering, simple past and past participle gunpowdered)

  1. (transitive) To destroy with gunpowder.
    • 1875, John H. Kingsbury, Kingsbury Sketches, page 54:
      […] he was […] never getting into quarrels with his neighbors and gunpowdering them out of house and home. His subjects loved him.

See also

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Etymology 2

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Possibly due to its smell resembling gunpowder during the British Raj.[1]

Noun

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gunpowder (uncountable)

  1. (India, informal) Idli podi/milagai podi; ground-up dry spices mixed with oil and ghee and served alongside idli or dosa.
    • 1989, Bombay: The City Magazine, page 26:
      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.
    • 2015 June 12, Priyadarshini Nandy, “South India's Spice Hero: How to Make the Famous Gunpowder”, in NDTV‎[2]:
      It was a hardcore Andhra lunch from a restaurant famous for its lunch meals. And that is where I had my first run-in with 'gunpowder'. And to be honest, I hated it.
    • 2020 May 27, Pooja Pillai, “The Back Burner: Homemade molagapodi is easier than you think”, in The Indian Express‎[3]:
      In fact, I’ve long suspected that the popularity of gunpowder or molagapodi outside South India has little to do with the burst of flavours it serves.

References

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  1. ^ Atul Kochhar (2008) Benares: Michelin Starred Cooking‎[1]: “29 ― It got its name because it apparently smells similar to the gunpowder used in rifles during the Raj.”
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Note 2