salt meaning and definition

SALT noun

Definition of salt (noun)

1. a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid by a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal)
2. white crystalline form of especially sodium chloride used to season and preserve food
   • synonyms: common salt, table salt
3. negotiations between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics opened in 1969 in Helsinki designed to limit both countries' stock of nuclear weapons
   • synonyms: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
4. the taste experience when common salt is taken into the mouth
   • synonyms: salinity, saltiness

SALT verb

Definition of salt (verb)

1. add salt to
2. sprinkle as if with salt
   • "the rebels had salted the fields with mines and traps"
3. add zest or liveliness to
   • "She salts her lectures with jokes"
4. preserve with salt
   • "people used to salt meats on ships"

SALT adjective

Definition of salt (adjective)

1. (of speech) painful or bitter
   • "salt scorn"- Shakespeare; "a salt apology"