Entry: picric (adj.)
In context:"At the horizon to the north a bulbous cone of picric clouds that gets taller by the hour as the Methuen-Andover border's mammoth effectuators force northern MA's combined oxides north against some sort of upper-air resistance, it looks like."
Definition: picric acid n. a yellow crystalline acid with a very bitter taste, obtained by nitrating phenol and used in the manufacture of explosives and in dyeing; 2,4,6-trinitrophenol, C6H2(NO2)3OH.
Other: Picric acid is frequently used in explosives. Also, here is a neat fact for your next party: "Picric acid emits a high-pitched whine during combustion in air and this has led to its widespread use in fireworks." (Wikipedia)
SNOOT score: 1
Page: 456
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, Wikipedia
Definitive Jest is a vocabulary-building and SNOOT-approved word-of-the-day blog centered around David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.
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