/ sɔːlt; NAmE ; BrE also sɒlt/ noun , verb , adjective
■ noun
1.
[ U ] a white substance that is added to food to give it a better flavour or to preserve it. Salt is obtained from mines and is also found in sea water. It is sometimes called common salt to distinguish it from other chemical salts.
SYN sodium chloride :
Pass the salt, please.
a pinch of salt (= a small amount of it)
Season with salt and pepper.
sea salt
—see also rock salt
2.
[ C ] ( chemistry ) a chemical formed from a metal and an acid :
mineral salts
—see also acid salt , Epsom salts
3.
salts [ pl. ] a substance that looks or tastes like salt :
bath salts (= used to give a pleasant smell to bath water)
—see also smelling salts
•
IDIOMS
- the salt of the earth
—more at dose noun , pinch noun , rub verb , worth adjective
■ verb [ vn ]
1.
[ usually passive ] to put salt on or in food :
salted peanuts
a pan of boiling salted water
2.
salt sth (down) to preserve food with salt :
salted fish
3.
to put salt on roads to melt ice or snow
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- salt sth away
■ adjective
[ only before noun ] containing, tasting of or preserved with salt :
salt water
salt beef
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English sealt (noun), sealtan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zout and German Salz (nouns), from an Indo-European root shared by Latin sal , Greek hals salt.