Definition: niter

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

niter
     n : (KNO3) used especially as a fertilizer and explosive [syn: potassium
         nitrate, saltpeter, saltpetre, nitre]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Niter \Ni"ter\, Nitre \Ni"tre\, n. [F. nitre, L. nitrum native
   soda, natron, Gr. ?; cf. Ar. nit?n, natr?n natron. Cf.
   Natron.]
   1. (Chem.) A white crystalline semitransparent salt;
      potassium nitrate; saltpeter. See Saltpeter.

   2. (Chem.) Native sodium carbonate; natron. [Obs.]

            For though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee
            much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me.
                                                  --Jer. ii. 22.

   Cubic niter, a deliquescent salt, sodium nitrate, found as
      a native incrustation, like niter, in Peru and Chili,
      whence it is known also as Chili saltpeter.

   Niter bush (Bot.), a genus (Nitraria) of thorny shrubs
      bearing edible berries, and growing in the saline plains
      of Asia and Northern Africa.