Definitions for the word "salt" from multiple English dictionaries.
1. n.
The chloride of sodium, a substance used for seasoning food, for the preservation of meat, etc. It is found native in the earth, and is also produced, by evaporation and crystallization, from sea water and other water impregnated with saline particles.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
2. n.
Hence, flavor; taste; savor; smack; seasoning.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
3. n.
Hence, also, piquancy; wit; sense; as, Attic salt.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
4. n.
A dish for salt at table; a saltcellar.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
5. n.
A sailor; -- usually qualified by old.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
6. n.
The neutral compound formed by the union of an acid and a base; thus, sulphuric acid and iron form the salt sulphate of iron or green vitriol.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
7. n.
Fig.: That which preserves from corruption or error; that which purifies; a corrective; an antiseptic; also, an allowance or deduction; as, his statements must be taken with a grain of salt.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
8. n.
Any mineral salt used as an aperient or cathartic, especially Epsom salts, Rochelle salt, or Glauber's salt.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
9. n.
Marshes flooded by the tide.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
10. n.
Of or relating to salt; abounding in, or containing, salt; prepared or preserved with, or tasting of, salt; salted; as, salt beef; salt water.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
11. n.
Overflowed with, or growing in, salt water; as, a salt marsh; salt grass.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
12. n.
Fig.: Bitter; sharp; pungent.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
13. n.
Fig.: Salacious; lecherous; lustful.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
14. v. t.
To sprinkle, impregnate, or season with salt; to preserve with salt or in brine; to supply with salt; as, to salt fish, beef, or pork; to salt cattle.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
15. v. t.
To fill with salt between the timbers and planks, as a ship, for the preservation of the timber.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
16. v. i.
To deposit salt as a saline solution; as, the brine begins to salt.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
17. n.
The act of leaping or jumping; a leap.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
18. abbr.
Strategic arms limitation talks (or treaty).
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
19. n.
1 (also common salt) sodium chloride, esp. Mined or evaporated from sea water, and used for seasoning or preserving food. 2 chemical compound formed from the reaction of an acid with a base. 3 piquancy; wit. 4 (in sing. Or pl.) A substance resembling salt in taste, form, etc. (bath salts). B (esp. In pl.) Substance used as a laxative. 5 (also old salt) experienced sailor. 6 = *salt-cellar. adj. Containing, tasting of, or preserved with salt. v. 1 cure, preserve, or season with salt or brine. 2 sprinkle (a road etc.) With salt. salt away (or down) slang put (money etc.) By. The salt of the earth most admirable or honest person or people (matt. 5:13). Take with a pinch (or grain) of salt regard sceptically. Worth one''s salt efficient, capable. [old english]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
20. slang
a sailor.
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864
21. slang
“it’s rather too SALT,” said of an extravagant hotel bill. Also,
a sort of black mail or tribute levied on visitors or travellers by the
Eton boys, at their triennial festival called the “Montem,” by ancient
custom and privileges. It is now abolished. A periodical published at
Eton many years ago for circulation amongst the boys was called “_The
SALT-box_.” When a person about to sell a business connexion makes
fictitious entries in the books of accounts, to simulate that a much
more profitable trade is carried on than there really is, he is said to
SALT the books—SALTING and COOKING being somewhat similar operations.
At the gold diggings of Australia, miners sometimes SALT an unproductive
hole by sprinkling a few grains of gold-dust over it, and thus obtain a
good price from a “green hand.” Unpromising speculations are frequently
thus SALTED to entrap the unwary, the wildest ideas being rendered
palatable _cum grano salis_. And though old birds are not readily caught
by chaff, the efficacy of SALT in bird-catching, so far as the young are
concerned, is proverbial.
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864
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