cordite
nounUK /ˈkɔːdaɪt/
Etymology From cord + -ite, because the material is manufactured into long cordlike cylinders.
1
A smokeless propellent made by combining two high explosives, nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine, used in some firearm ammunition.
- The room contained an odd assortment of odors, of which the most emphatic at the moment seemed to be the pungent aftermath of cordite and the sickish aroma of ether.1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, →ISBN, page 35: