salt
/sɒlt/ (bre, ipa) · [sˈɔlt] /sɑːlt/ (ame, ipa) · [sˈɔlt] /ˈsȯlt/ (ame, mw)
salt — noun
- saltsingular
- saltsplural
1. a white substance from the sea or the ground that people put on food to give it
a white substance from the sea or the ground that people put on food to give it more flavour or to stop it from spoiling
Théo added a little salt to the soup to make it taste better.
a little salt — common quantity collocation for uncountable noun
The recipe says to add one teaspoon of salt to the flour.
teaspoon of salt — measure phrase
Sea water tastes bad because it contains so much salt.
Before fridges existed, people used salt to keep meat and fish from going bad.
- sodium chloride
the scientific name for common salt; not used in everyday speech
- table salt
salt that is ground fine and used at the dining table; a specific type of salt
- sea salt
salt obtained by evaporating sea water; often considered more natural than table salt
- sugar
a different seasoning, opposite in taste (sweet vs salty)
用法筆記
Uncountable in this sense — never a salt. In everyday English, salt usually refers to sodium chloride (table salt).
常見錯誤
2. a crystal-like substance produced by combining an acid with a metallic element o
a crystal-like substance produced by combining an acid with a metallic element or an alkaline compound
In the lab, Cyrus mixed hydrochloric acid with sodium hydroxide to produce a white salt.
acid + base → salt — chemical reaction formation
Manuela learned that ordinary table salt is just one kind of chemical salt.
one kind of chemical salt — countable usage
Different metal salts create bright colours when you heat them in a flame.
Justin wrote down the name of each salt that formed during the experiment.
- compound
broader term; all salts are compounds, but not all compounds are salts
- crystalline solid
describes the physical form many salts take; more descriptive than a true synonym
用法筆記
Countable — you can say a salt or salts when referring to different chemical compounds. Common in chemistry textbooks and lab instructions.
常見錯誤
salt — adjective
- saltpositive
- saltercomparative
- saltestsuperlative
1. containing salt, or preserved with salt so that it stays fresh longer
containing salt, or preserved with salt so that it stays fresh longer
The doctor told Daichi to avoid salt crackers because of his blood pressure.
salt crackers — savoury food product
Anjali bought salt butter for baking the cookies.
salt butter — common grocery item
The market sells salt fish that people soak in fresh water before cooking.
Salt water from the ocean is not safe to drink.
用法筆記
Used before a noun to describe salt content. Do not confuse with salty, which describes the taste of something (e.g. 'This soup is too salty').
常見錯誤
salt — verb
- saltpresent simple I / you / we / they
- salts3rd person singular
- salting-ing form
- saltedpast simple
1. to put salt onto or into food, usually to improve its flavour
to put salt onto or into food, usually to improve its flavour
Selim salted the pasta water before adding the noodles.
salt + food + water — typical cooking pattern
The recipe says to salt the chicken an hour before you roast it.
You should salt the vegetables after they finish cooking, not before.
Eshe forgot to salt the soup, so the flavour was quite flat.
- desalinate
to remove salt from water; the opposite process, rarely used for food
用法筆記
Transitive — always takes a direct object (the food being salted). Common in recipes and cooking instructions.