Word.ws English Dictionary

salt

/sɔlt//sɒlt/

salt noun: a common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a food ingredient, seasoning, condiment, and preservative.

salt: a common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a...
Image: Dey.sandip, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

salt (countable and uncountable, plural salts)

  1. A common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a food ingredient, seasoning, condiment, and preservative.
    • Near-synonyms: table salt, rock salt, road salt
    • Take gode almaunde mylke y-draw wyth wyn, an let hem boyle to-gederys, an caste þer-to Safroun an Salt; […]1430, Thomas Austin, editor, Two Fifteenth-century Cookery-books. Harleian ms. 279 (ab. 1430), & Harl. ms. 4016 (ab. 1450), with Extracts from Ashmole ms. 1429, Laud ms. 553, & Douce ms. 55 (Early...
  2. One of the compounds formed from the reaction of an acid with a base, where a positive ion replaces a hydrogen of the acid.
  3. (countable, uncommon) A salt marsh, a saline marsh at the shore of a sea.
  4. (countable, slang) A sailor (also old salt).
    • Around the door are generally to be seen, laughing and gossiping, clusters of old salts.1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
    • I never go as a passenger; nor, though I am something of a salt, do I ever go to sea as a Commodore, or a Captain, or a Cook.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 1”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
  5. A sequence of random data added to plain text data (such as passwords or messages) prior to encryption or hashing, in order to make brute force decryption more difficult.
  6. A person who seeks employment at a company in order to (once employed by it) help unionize it.
  7. (obsolete, uncountable) Flavour; taste; seasoning.
    • Though we are justices and doctors and churchmen […] we have some salt of our youth in us.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  8. (obsolete, uncountable) Piquancy; wit; sense.
    • Attic salt
  9. (countable, obsolete) A dish for salt at table; a salt cellar.
    • I out and bought some things; among others, a dozen of silver salts.1664 September 18 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “September 9th, 1664”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume IV...
  10. (historical, in plural) Epsom salts or other salt used as a medicine.
  11. (figuratively, uncountable) Skepticism and common sense.
    • Any politician's statements must be taken with a grain of salt, but his need to be taken with a whole shaker of salt.
  12. (Internet, uncountable) Tears; indignation; outrage; arguing.
    • There was so much salt in that thread about the poor casting decision.
  13. (UK, historical, uncountable) The money demanded by Eton schoolboys during the montem.

Adjective

salt (comparative more salt, superlative most salt)

  1. Of water: containing salt, saline.
    • Why the Sea is Salt
    • After a few days of north-west wind, the waters of the Gordon will be found salt for twelve miles up from the bar.1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Penguin, published 2009, page 97
  2. Treated with salt as a preservative; cured with salt, salted.
    • salt beef
    • Philander went into the next room[…]and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
  3. Of land, fields etc.: flooded by the sea.
    • a salt marsh
  4. Of plants: growing in the sea or on land flooded by the sea.
    • salt grass
  5. Related to salt deposits, excavation, processing or use.
    • a salt mine
    • The salt factory is a key connecting element in the seawater infrastructure.
  6. (figuratively, obsolete) Bitter; sharp; pungent.
    • I have a salt and sorry rheum offends me […].c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  7. (figuratively, obsolete) Salacious; lecherous; lustful; (of animals) in heat.
    • It is impossible you should see this, / Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, / As salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross / As ignorance made drunk.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
    • And when he saw that all the dogs were flocking about her, yarring at the retardment of their accesse to her, and every way keeping such a coyle with her, as they are wont to do about a proud or salt bitch, he forthwith departed […]1653, Thomas Urquhart, transl., The First Book of the works of Mr. Francis Rabelais, Book 2, Chapter 22, p. 153
  8. (archaic, colloquial) Costly; expensive.

Verb

salt (third-person singular simple present salts, present participle salting, simple past and past participle salted)

  1. (transitive) To add salt to.
    • to salt fish, beef, or pork; to salt the city streets in the winter
    Synonyms:
    salt down
  2. (intransitive) To deposit salt as a saline solution.
    • The brine begins to salt.
  3. To fill with salt between the timbers and planks for the preservation of the timber.
  4. To blast metal into (as a portion of a mine) in order to cause to appear to be a productive seam.
  5. To add bogus evidence to an archaeological site.
  6. (transitive) To add certain chemical elements to (a nuclear or conventional weapon) so that it generates more radiation.
    • The composition of the fallout can also be changed by "salting" the weapon to be detonated. This consists in the inclusion of significant quantities of certain elements, possibly enriched in specific isotopes, for the purpose of producing induced radioactivity. There are several reasons why a...1964, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, page 417
  7. (transitive) To sprinkle throughout.
    • They salted the document with arcane language.
    • The Libertarians wish we had won the Vietnamese War, they would like to revoke civil rights legislation, they believe (even though they are supposedly anti-state) in a stronger Pentagon. They are salted with Nixonites, Young Americans for Freedom, John Birchers, Reaganites — in other words the old...1976 December 11, Ronnie Allen, “No Political Eunuch”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 24, page 4
  8. To add filler bytes before encrypting, in order to make brute-force decryption more resource-intensive.
  9. (transitive) To sow with salt (of land), symbolizing a curse on its re-inhabitation.
    • In this place were put to the ground and salted the houses of José Mascarenhas.
  10. (wiki jargon) To lock a page title so it cannot be created.
  11. To seek employment at a company in order to help unionize it.
    • And then there was a different faction of organizers who you call more like “professional activists” or “white leftists,” and they were maybe more privileged, maybe just joined the job to salt for the union.2026 June 2, Alex Skopic, Chris Smalls, “Chris Smalls Is Still Fighting the Bosses”, in Current Affairs

Noun (2)

salt (plural salts)

  1. (obsolete) A bounding; a leaping; a prance.
    • […] he hath the skill to draw
      Their nectar forth, with kissing; and could make
      More wanton salts from this brave promontory,
      Down to this valley, than the nimble roe;1616, Ben Jonson, The Devil Is an Ass, in Gifford’s 1816 edition volume V page 67

Proper noun (1) capitalized: SALT

SALT

  1. (abbreviation, acronym, historical) Acronym of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.

Noun (3) capitalized: SALT

SALT (plural SALTs)

  1. (US, abbreviation, acronym, attributive, usually) Acronym of state and local tax(es) [deduction], a tax deduction whereby some portion of the money paid as taxes to state and local governments is not taxed at the federal level; the tax-deductible portion is nominally capped, but the cap is circumventable via special-interest loopholes.
    • Both the SALT limitations and the doubled standard deduction expire after 2025, putting SALT on the 2025 menu for lawmakers.2024 August 9, Andrew Lautz, “How SALT May Shake Up the 2025 Tax Debate”, in Bipartisan Policy Center
    • In general, income taxes paid or accrued in carrying on a trade or business or an income-producing activity are subject to the SALT cap. The SALT cap is set to expire for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.2025 May, “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill”, in United States House Committee on Ways & Means, page 37
  2. (UK, abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of speech and language therapist.
  3. (UK, abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of speech and language therapy.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Salt

Salt (countable and uncountable, plural Salts)

  1. A village in Salt and Enson parish, Stafford borough, Staffordshire, England (OS grid ref SJ9527).
  2. A surname.

salt meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

salt in Hindi

sodium chloride
नमक namak, लोन lon, लवण lavaṇ, मिल्ह milha
compound of an acid and a base
लवण lavaṇ

salt in Tamil

sodium chloride
உப்பு uppu, லவண lavaṇa
salty
உப்பாக uppāka, உவர்ப்பு uvarppu, உப்பு கரிக்க uppu karikka
saline
உப்பாக uppāka, உவர்ப்பு uvarppu
to add salt to
உப்பு சேர் uppu cēr, உப்பிடு uppiṭu

salt in Marathi

sodium chloride
मीठ mīṭh, लवण lavaṇ, लोण loṇ
compound of an acid and a base
क्षार kṣār

salt in Urdu

sodium chloride
نَمَک namak
More languagesFewer languages
salt in Bengali
নুন nun, লবণ lobon
salt in Telugu
ఉప్పు uppu, లవణం lavaṇaṁ
salt in Malayalam
ഉപ്പ് uppŭ, ലവണം lavaṇaṁ
salt in Kannada
ಉಪ್ಪು uppu, ಲವಣ lavaṇa
salt in Punjabi
ਨਮਕ namak, ਲੂਣ lūṇ, ਲਵਣ lavaṇ, ਨਮਕੀਨ namkīn
salt in Gujarati
મીઠું mīṭhũ, લૂણ lūṇ, લવણ lavaṇ
salt in Odia
ଲୁଣ luṇa
salt in Sanskrit
लवण lavaṇa
salt in Sinhala
ලුණු luṇu, ලවණ lawaṇa
salt in Assamese
লোণ lün, নিমখ nimokh
salt in Nepali
नून nūna, लवण lawaṇ
salt in Pashto
مالګه mālga
salt in Tagalog
asin
salt in Arabic
مِلْح milḥ, ملح malḥ, مَلَّحَ mallaḥa
salt in Malay
garam
salt in Indonesian
garam
salt in Persian
نَمَک namak
salt in Thai
เกลือ glʉʉa
salt in Vietnamese
muối
salt in Myanmar
ဆား hca:
Sindhi
لوُڻُ luurnu
Dhivehi
ލޮނު lonu
Dzongkha
ཚྭ tshwa

Examples of salt in a sentence

  • Common salt, chloride of sodium, appears to be essential to the life of the higher animals.1880, Arthur Herbert Church, Food: Some Account of Its Sources, Constituents and Uses, London: Chapman and Hall, page 24:
  • Tears, he knew, would cost his body salt.2013, Bear Grylls, True Grit: the Epic True Stories of Heroism and Survival That Have Shaped My Life, →ISBN, page 9:
  • The composition of the fallout can also be changed by "salting" the weapon to be detonated.1964, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, The Effects of Nuclear Weapons, page 417:
  • They are salted with Nixonites, Young Americans for Freedom, John Birchers, Reaganites — in other words the old Joe McCarthy gang again.1976 December 11, Ronnie Allen, “No Political Eunuch”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 24, page 4:

All 40 example sentences with salt

Synonyms of salt

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of salt

Forms of salt

Noun
pluralsalts
pluralSALTs
Adjective
comparativemore salt
superlativemost salt
Verb
third-person singular presentsalts
present participlesalting
past participlesalted
pastsalted
Proper noun
pluralSalts

Past tense of salt: salted

Plural of salt: salts

Origin of salt

PIE word *sḗh₂l From Middle English salt, from Old English sealt, from Proto-West Germanic *salt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *sḗh₂l (“salt”). Doublet of sal, salary, and salsa, all ultimately from Latin sāl (“salt”), which it superseded as the general term for "salt". Cognate with Dutch zout, German Salz, Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish salt.

Borrowed from Latin saltus.

From Middle English [Term?], from Old English Selte. Compare Salter. The Staffordshire village was recorded as Selte in 1086 (DB), for a salt pit or saltworks.

Words formed from salt

Phrases with salt

173 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with salt

Questions about salt

What does salt mean?
Salt means a common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a food ingredient, seasoning, condiment, and preservative.
What is salt in Hindi?
Salt in Hindi is नमक (namak), लोन (lon), लवण (lavaṇ). See Salt meaning in Hindi.
How do you use salt in a sentence?
Common salt, chloride of sodium, appears to be essential to the life of the higher animals.
What part of speech is salt?
Salt can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce salt?
Salt is pronounced /sɒlt/ (UK).
What is the plural of salt?
The plural of salt is salts.

Words near salt in the dictionary

  1. salsolaceous
  2. salsolas
  3. salsolidine
  4. salsolinol
  5. salsuginous
  6. salt
  7. salt acid
  8. salt and chilli chips
  9. Salt and Enson
  10. salt and pepper
  11. salt and pepper chips

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: salt (page history and authors); SALT (page history and authors); Salt (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-salt.ogg, en-us-salt.ogg.

Cite this entry: “salt.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/salt. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.