noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A smokeless propellant made from nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine without a solvent, developed in the 1880s and still used, e.g., for artillery rockets like Grad. countable, uncountable
2. 2
   an explosive (trade name Ballistite) that burns with relatively little smoke; contains pyrocellulose and is used as a propellant wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

dynamiteexplosivepowdersmokeless powder

Etymology

Attested since 1892, from French balistite or Italian balistite (both 1890).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.