| nipple |
the projection at the center of a mammal's breast that, in the female, contains the outlets from the milk glands; teat. [3 definitions] |
| Nippon |
see "Japan." |
| nippy |
sharply cold; frosty. [2 definitions] |
| nirvana |
(often cap.) in Buddhism or Hinduism, a state of blissful peace and harmony beyond the sufferings and passions of individual existence; state of oneness with eternal spirit. [2 definitions] |
| Nisan |
the seventh month of the Jewish lunisolar calendar, occurring from late March through early April in the Gregorian calendar. |
| Nisei |
(sometimes l.c.) an offspring of Japanese immigrant parents who is raised and educated in the United States or Canada. (See Issei, Kibei, Sansei.) |
| nit |
the egg or young of a louse or other parasitic insect. |
| niter |
a whitish salt, potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate, used in gunpowder or fertilizer; saltpeter. |
| nitpick |
to be excessively concerned with or critical of small details or faults. |
| nitrate |
a salt or ester containing nitric acid. [3 definitions] |
| nitre |
(chiefly British) variant of niter. |
| nitric |
of, pertaining to, containing, or derived from nitrogen. |
| nitric acid |
a colorless, volatile, highly corrosive acid with strong oxidizing properties. |
| nitride |
a compound of nitrogen and one other less electronegative element. |
| nitrify |
to oxidize into nitrous or nitric acid or a nitrite or nitrate, as by bacterial action in soil. [2 definitions] |
| nitrite |
an ester or salt of nitrous acid. |
| nitro- |
containing nitrogen. [2 definitions] |
| nitrobenzene |
a toxic liquid or crystalline compound, used to make aniline, insulating materials, and solvents. |
| nitrocellulose |
a cottonlike substance made from cellulose treated with nitric and sulfuric acids and used in plastics, explosives, and lacquers. |
| nitrogen |
a chemical element that has seven protons in each nucleus and that occurs as a colorless, odorless gas that comprises about eighty percent of the earth's atmosphere, or in important compounds such as nitrates, proteins, nucleic acids, and ammonia. (symbol: N) [3 definitions] |
| nitrogen cycle |
the continuous natural cycle by which nitrogen passes from air to soil to organisms and back to air. |