Word
nitrogen
Phoneticsni·tro·gen
US/ˈnaɪtɹədʒən/
UK/nˈaɪtɹədʒən/
Definitions
01chemical element or gas
n. a gas that has no colour or smell and makes up about 78% of the Earth's atmosphere.
n. the chemical element with atomic number 7; most commonly encountered as a colorless, odorless diatomic gas (N₂) that is the primary constituent of air.
“Plants need nitrogen in the soil to grow strong and healthy.”
“Nitrogen is essential for life on Earth, as it is a fundamental component of amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids like DNA.”
Usage
Usually uncountable when referring to the gas or the element in general.
02liquid nitrogen
n. the very cold liquid form of nitrogen used to freeze things quickly.
n. nitrogen in a liquid state at extremely low temperatures, typically used as a refrigerant or in cryogenics.
“The chef used liquid nitrogen to make instant ice cream for the guests.”
“The laboratory stored the biological samples in tanks of liquid nitrogen to ensure they remained preserved at cryogenic temperatures.”
Technical
Usage
Often used in the compound 'liquid nitrogen'.
Real-World Examples
“London had high levels of the harmful gas nitrogen dioxide which comes from motor vehicles.” “The researchers examined other possible causes, including rainfall, temperature, grazing, fire, nitrogen pollution and changes in grass species.” Etymology
Borrowed from French nitrogène (coined by French chemist and physician Jean-Antoine Chaptal in 1790). By surface analysis, nitro- + -gen. See also niter.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/nitrogen