Nitric

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Of, pertaining to, or containing, nitrogen; specifically,designating any one of those compounds in which, as contrasted withnitrous compounds, the element has a higher valence; as, nitricoxide; nitric acid. Nitric acid, a colorless or yellowish liquidobtained by distilling a nitrate with sulphuric acid. It ispowerfully corrosive, being a strong acid, and in decomposition astrong oxidizer.-- Nitric anhydride, a white crystalline oxide of nitrogen (N2O5),called nitric pentoxide, and regarded as the anhydride of nitricacid.-- Nitric oxide, a colorless poisous gas (NO) obtained by treatingnitric acid with copper. On contact with the air or with oxygen, itbecomes reddish brown from the formation of nitric dioxide orperoxide.