GUNPOWDERS
Noun
gunpowders
plural of gunpowder
Usage notes
• Gunpowders usually refers to multiple formulations of gunpowder, which is otherise an uncountable noun.
Source: Wiktionary
GUNPOWDER
Gun"pow`der, n. (Chem.)
Definition: A black, granular, explosive substance, consisting of an
intimate mechanical mixture of niter, charcoal, and sulphur. It is
used in gunnery and blasting.
Note: Gunpowder consists of from 70 to 80 per cent of niter, with 10
to 15 per cent of each of the other ingredients. Its explosive energy
is due to the fact that it contains the necessary amount of oxygen
for its own combustion, and liberates gases (chiefly nitrogen and
carbon dioxide), which occupy a thousand or fifteen hundred times
more space than the powder which generated them. Gunpowder pile
driver, a pile driver, the hammer of which is thrown up by the
explosion of gunpowder.
– Gunpowder plot (Eng. Hist.), a plot to destroy the King, Lords,
and Commons, in revenge for the penal laws against Catholics. As Guy
Fawkes, the agent of the conspirators, was about to fire the mine,
which was placed under the House of Lords, he was seized, Nov. 5,
1605. Hence, Nov. 5 is known in England as Guy Fawkes Day.
– Gunpowder tea, a species of fine green tea, each leaf of which is
rolled into a small ball or pellet.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition