Soap
[səʊp] or [sop]
Definition
(noun.) a cleansing agent made from the salts of vegetable or animal fats.
(noun.) street names for gamma hydroxybutyrate.
(noun.) money offered as a bribe.
(verb.) rub soap all over, usually with the purpose of cleaning.
Checked by Leroy--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A substance which dissolves in water, thus forming a lather, and is used as a cleansing agent. Soap is produced by combining fats or oils with alkalies or alkaline earths, usually by boiling, and consists of salts of sodium, potassium, etc., with the fatty acids (oleic, stearic, palmitic, etc.). See the Note below, and cf. Saponification. By extension, any compound of similar composition or properties, whether used as a cleaning agent or not.
(v. t.) To rub or wash over with soap.
(v. t.) To flatter; to wheedle.
Checker: Mitchell
Definition
n. a compound of oils or fats with soda (hard soaps) or potash (soft soaps) used in washing: (slang) soft words flattery: (U.S. slang) money used for bribery and other secret political purposes.—v.t. to rub or wash with soap: to flatter.—ns. Soap′-ball soap made into a ball often with starch as an emollient; Soap′berry the fruit of several species of trees belonging to the genus Sapindus containing a pulp useful as a substitute for soap in washing; Soap′-boil′er one whose occupation is to make soap; Soap′-boil′ing the occupation of making soap; Soap′-bub′ble a bubble made from soap-suds by blowing through a pipe; Soap′iness; Soap′-lock a lock of hair brushed apart from the rest: a rowdy; Soap′-pan a large tank for boiling the ingredients in soap-making; Soap′-plant a plant the bulb of which makes a thick lather when rubbed on clothes and is used as soap; Soap′-stone a soft kind of magnesian rock having a soapy feel also called Steatite; Soap′-suds (s. and pl.) soapy water esp. when worked into a foam; Soap′-test a test for determining the degree of hardness of water; Soap′-works a place where soap is made; Soap′wort a genus of plants some of the species of which have very beautiful flowers and the root and leaves of which contain saponin and hence are sometimes used in washing.—adj. Soap′y like soap: having the qualities of soap: covered with soap: flattering or pertaining to flattery.
Checker: Wilmer
Unserious Contents or Definition
To dream of soap, foretells that friendships will reveal interesting entertainment. Farmers will have success in their varied affairs. For a young woman to be making soap, omens a substantial and satisfactory competency will be hers.
Editor: Roxanne
Examples
- Even if water is only moderately hard, much soap is lost. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- I am glad that Peter is acquainted with the crown soap business, so as to make what is good of the kind. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- One early station in New York for arc lighting was an old soap-works whose well-soaked floors did not need much additional grease to render them choice fuel for the inevitable flames. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Sometimes soap refuses to form a lather and instead cakes and floats as a scum on the top of the water; this is not the fault of the soap but of the water. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- An enormous quantity of sodium carbonate, or soda, as it is usually called, is needed in the manufacture of glass, soap, bleaching powders, and other commercial products. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Sophia appeared to dislike Lord Deerhurst of all things, and complained that he was unusually sparing of soap and water at his toilette. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- The hands may gather germs from any substances or objects with which they come in contact; hence the hands should be washed with soap and water, and especially before eating. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Commercial soaps are made from a great variety of substances, such as tallow, lard, castor oil, coconut oil, olive oil, etc. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The kernels are used as food in a number of different forms, and when pressed, they yield an oil which is largely used in candle making and in the manufacture of soaps. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Within the last few years liquid soaps have come into favor, especially in schools, railroad stations, and other public places, where a cake of soap would be handled by many persons. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Different varieties of soaps appeared, of which the hard soap was the most popular, owing to the ease with which it could be transported. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The barber soaped my face, and then took his razor and gave me a rake that well nigh threw me into convulsions. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
Editor: Maggie