How to Use nitric acid in a Sentence

nitric acid

noun
  • Authorities suspect the nitric acid was the source of the fire.
    — Washington Post, 2 June 2021
  • It was determined that a nitric acid spill caused the incident, police said.
    — Rey Covarrubias Jr., The Arizona Republic, 21 June 2024
  • The two men conducted a test with nitric acid and satisfied themselves that the find was genuine.
    — Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2021
  • People who refused to get a vaccine resorted to exposing part of their skin to nitric acid.
    — Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 2021
  • The ship was holding hazardous chemicals such as nitric acid, sodium methoxide and methanol.
    — Washington Post, 22 June 2021
  • On April 9, Russian troops hit a nitric acid tank in the Luhansk region.
    — Katya Soldak, Forbes, 9 Apr. 2022
  • It is made by combining ammonia gas with liquid nitric acid, which itself is made from ammonia.
    — Gabriel Da Silva, Scientific American, 5 Aug. 2020
  • The vessel was laden with chemicals such as nitric acid and carrying 350 metric tons of oil in its tanks.
    — Helen Regan and Carly Walsh, CNN, 15 June 2021
  • The kids blamed it on a space heater, but the authorities found nitric acid — an accelerant — at the scene and are charging her with felony arson.
    — Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 12 Oct. 2025
  • The fire department said the cloud was caused by a reaction between nitric acid and moisture inside a container.
    — Lawrence Andrea, The Indianapolis Star, 3 June 2021
  • The fire has destroyed most of the ship’s cargo, which included 25 tons of nitric acid and other chemicals.
    — Bharatha Mallawarachi, ajc, 6 June 2021
  • Turkish pop singer Bergen, who grappled with a violent husband that hired someone to pour nitric acid on her face and later shot and killed her.
    — Manori Ravindran, Variety, 29 July 2022
  • Haidai also said that Russia struck a nitric acid tank at a chemical plant, exposing residents to toxic fumes.
    — Bryan Pietsch, Washington Post, 1 June 2022
  • The fluid has a strong scent, resembling a mixture of nitric acid and ammonia, and causes a burning sensation if sprayed into the eyes.
    — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Apr. 2020
  • Those air pollutants react with water, oxygen, and other substances to form airborne sulfuric and nitric acid.
    — National Geographic, 12 June 2019
  • The synthetic substance is a combination of ammonia and nitric acid.
    — USA Today, 6 Aug. 2020
  • The researchers can make the surface by treating standard steel with electricity while submerging it in a nitric acid solution.
    — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, 19 Dec. 2017
  • To study how methyl mercury gets deposited, the researchers take samples of lichens, dissolving them in nitric acid to extract mercury and other metals.
    — Daniella Garcia Almeida, Mercury News, 13 Jan. 2026
  • The two sides also swapped blame over who was responsible for blowing up a nitric acid tank at Sievierodonetsk's Azot chemical plant.
    — Grayson Quay, The Week, 2 June 2022
  • Sri Lankan authorities suspect the fire was caused by a leak from the ship's containers, which were carrying 25 tons of nitric acid.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 1 June 2021
  • The agency later identified the hazardous material as nitric acid.
    — Adela Suliman, Washington Post, 15 Feb. 2023
  • Matty does a fiery demo in Olympia’s kitchen, and Olympia confronts the fire expert on the stand with a bucket full of ping pong balls, each of which contain a tiny bit of nitric acid.
    — Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 12 Oct. 2025
  • These pollutants react with water, oxygen and other chemicals to form sulfuric and nitric acids, which then mix with water before falling toward the ground.
    — Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 17 Feb. 2023
  • Because nitric acid is an irritant to the eyes and lungs, about 30 people were evacuated from nearby businesses as a precaution.
    — Lawrence Andrea, The Indianapolis Star, 3 June 2021
  • Acid rain results when emissions from power plants, motor vehicles and other fossil fuel combustion sources mix with moisture in the air to produce sulfuric and nitric acid.
    — Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2019
  • Acid rain results when emissions from power plants, motor vehicles, and other fossil fuel combustion sources mix with moisture in the air to produce sulfuric and nitric acid.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 9 Oct. 2019
  • Current techniques dissolve the silver in nitric acid and use other acids to handle a silicon nitride layer in the panel, as well as some of the minor materials, like solder.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 4 June 2024
  • Aboard the ship were nearly 1,500 containers, dozens of which contained dangerous goods, including nitric acid, sodium methoxide and methanol.
    — Washington Post, 15 June 2021
  • At his left foot is a large glass bottle of nitrogen dioxide in the process of combining with water vapor to form more nitric acid, according to the recipe supplied by Isaac Newton.
    — Discover Magazine, 6 July 2010
  • The Sri Lankan navy believes the blaze was caused by its chemical cargo, which included 25 tons of nitric acid and other chemicals, most of which were destroyed in the fire.
    — NBC News, 17 June 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nitric acid.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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