"nitrates" in the noun sense
1. nitrate
any compound containing the nitrate group (such as a salt or ester of nitric acid)
"nitrates" in the verb sense
1. nitrate
treat with nitric acid, so as to change an organic compound into a nitrate
"nitroglycerin is obtained by nitrating glycerol"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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