a superficial burn of the skin caused by a momentary intense explosion, esp of gunpowder
powder burn in American English
noun
a skin burn caused by exploding gunpowder
Word origin
[1840–50, Amer.]This word is first recorded in the period 1840–50. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: dope, layout, plaque, sensationalism, warmup
Examples of 'powder burn' in a sentence
powder burn
Their bodies were later recovered, lying next to each other, powder burns marking their temples.