Litmus
['lɪtməs]
Definition
(noun.) a coloring material (obtained from lichens) that turns red in acid solutions and blue in alkaline solutions; used as a very rough acid-base indicator.
Typist: Preston--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A dyestuff extracted from certain lichens (Roccella tinctoria, Lecanora tartarea, etc.), as a blue amorphous mass which consists of a compound of the alkaline carbonates with certain coloring matters related to orcin and orcein.
Checked by Benita
Definition
n. a dye obtained from certain lichens originally red but becoming blue on the addition of alkalies or of lime.—Litmus paper paper used in chemical testing tinged blue by litmus reddened by an acid made blue again by an alkali.
Edited by Candice
Examples
- In his right hand he held a slip of litmus-paper. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- Bases always turn red litmus paper blue. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Hence, in order to detect the presence of acid in a substance, one has merely to put some of the substance on blue litmus paper, and note whether or not the latter changes color. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- But the best test of an acid is by sight rather than by taste, because it has been found that an acid is able to discolor a plant substance called litmus. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- If now red litmus paper is tested in the same solution, its color also will remain unchanged; such a result indicates infallibly the absence of any basic quality. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
Typed by Lillian