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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

caus·tic       (kô'stĭk)  Pronunciation Key  adj.   Capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action. Corrosive and bitingly trenchant; cutting. See Synonyms at sarcastic. Causing a burning or stinging sensation, as from intense emotion: "Most of all, there is caustic shame for my own stupidity" (Scott Turow). n.   A caustic material or substance. A hydroxide of a light metal. The enveloping surface formed by light rays reflecting or refracting from a curved surface, especially one with spherical aberration. [Middle English caustik, from Latin causticus, from Greek kaustikos, from kaustos, from kaiein, kau-, to burn.] caus'ti·cal·ly adv., caus·tic'i·ty (kô-stĭs'ĭ-tē) n.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
caustic 

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

caustic
adjective
1.	harsh or corrosive in tone; "an acerbic tone piercing otherwise flowery prose"; "a barrage of acid comments"; "her acrid remarks make her many enemies"; "bitter words"; "blistering criticism"; "caustic jokes about political assassination, talk-show hosts and medical ethics"; "a sulfurous denunciation"; "a vitriolic critique"
2.	of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action
noun
1.	any chemical substance that burns or destroys living tissue

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

caustic caus·tic (kô'stĭk)
n.

1. A hydroxide of a light metal.
2. A caustic material or substance.

adj.

1. Capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action.
2. Of or relating to light emitted from a point source and reflected or refracted from a curved surface.
3. Causing a burning or stinging sensation.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Caustic

Caus"tic\, Caustical \Caus"tic*al\, a. [L. caustucs, Ge. ?, fr. ? to burn. Cf. Calm, Ink.]

1. Capable of destroying the texture of anything or eating away its substance by chemical action; burning; corrosive; searing.

2. Severe; satirical; sharp; as, a caustic remark.

Caustic curve (Optics), a curve to which the ray of light, reflected or refracted by another curve, are tangents, the reflecting or refracting curve and the luminous point being in one plane.

Caustic lime. See under Lime.

Caustic potash, Caustic soda (Chem.), the solid hydroxides potash, KOH, and soda, NaOH, or solutions of the same.

Caustic silver, nitrate of silver, lunar caustic.

Caustic surface (Optics), a surface to which rays reflected or refracted by another surface are tangents. Caustic curves and surfaces are called catacaustic when formed by reflection, and diacaustic when formed by refraction.

Syn: Stinging; cutting; pungent; searching.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Caustic

Cau"stic\, n. [L. causticum (sc. medicamentum). See Caustic, a.]

1. Any substance or means which, applied to animal or other organic tissue, burns, corrodes, or destroys it by chemical action; an escharotic.

2. (Optics) A caustic curve or caustic surface.