salt

1. A common substance, chemically consisting mainly of sodium chloride (NaCl), used extensively as a food ingredient, seasoning, condiment, and preservative. (countable, uncountable) · Near-synonyms: table salt, rock salt, road salt
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. (countable, uncountable)
3. A salt marsh, a saline marsh at the shore of a sea. (countable)
4. A sailor (also old salt). (countable, slang)
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. (countable, uncountable)
6. A person who seeks employment at a company in order to (once employed by it) help unionize it. (countable, uncountable)
7. Epsom salts or other salt used as a medicine. (countable, uncountable)
8. Skepticism and common sense. (figuratively, uncountable) · Any politician's statements must be taken with a grain of salt, but his need to be taken with a whole shaker of salt.

Plural salts