a white, crystalline, deliquescent, water-soluble, poisonous powder, NaCN, prepared by heating sodium amide with charcoal: used chiefly in casehardening alloys, in the leaching and flotation of ore, and in electroplating.
Origin
1880-85
Examples from the web for sodium cyanide
sodium cyanide hazards to fish and other wildlife from gold mining operations.
The mechanical ejection device contains lethal amounts of sodium cyanide.
sodium cyanide is not combustible itself, but contact with acids releases highly flammable hydrogen cyanide gas.
British Dictionary definitions for sodium cyanide
sodium cyanide
noun
1.
a white odourless crystalline soluble poisonous compound with an odour of hydrogen cyanide when damp. It is used for extracting gold and silver from their ores and for case-hardening steel. Formula: NaCN