Smelling Salts (Noun)
Meaning
A pungent preparation of ammonium carbonate and perfume; sniffed as a stimulant to relieve faintness.
Classification
Nouns denoting substances.
Examples
- She carried a vial of smelling salts in her purse, just in case she needed to revive herself in the midst of a social gathering.
- After witnessing the intense duel, Lady Catherine swooned and had to be revived with smelling salts.
- During the performance, one of the dancers felt dizzy and her colleagues immediately rushed her some smelling salts to revive her.
- To calm his frazzled nerves before the exam, Tom inhaled the fumes from the bottle of smelling salts he found in the principal's office.
- To wake the coach driver, the postillion fetched some smelling salts and administered a gentle sniff, startling him awake from his somnambulistic slumber.