Vocabulary Word
Word: caustic
Definition: burning; corrosive; able to burn by chemical action; sarcastically biting; (of remarks) intended to hurt; bitter; harmful; OP. harmless
Definition: burning; corrosive; able to burn by chemical action; sarcastically biting; (of remarks) intended to hurt; bitter; harmful; OP. harmless
Sentences Containing 'caustic'
The plain cotton frock of our grandmothers had its death knell sounded a few years ago, when John Mercer showed that cotton fabrics soaked in caustic soda assumed under certain conditions a silky sheen, and when dyed took on beautiful and varied hues.
From repeated trials, it was found that caustic soda when heated with wood chips destroyed everything in the wood except the desired substance, cellulose; this could be removed, bleached, dried, and pressed into paper.
If blue litmus paper is put into an acid solution, its color changes to red; if now the red litmus paper is dipped into a base solution, caustic soda, for example, its original color is partially restored.
Some concentrated bases are so powerful in their action on grease, cloth, and metal that they have received the designation caustic, and are ordinarily known as caustic soda, caustic potash -LRB- lye -RRB-, and caustic lime.
Most fats contain a substance of an acid nature, and are decomposed by the action of bases such as caustic soda and caustic potash.
A neutral liquid formed as in Section 204, by the action of hydrochloric acid and the alkali solution of caustic soda, has a brackish, salty taste, and is, in fact, a solution of salt.
More Vocab Words
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