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caustic - 10 dictionary results
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caus⋅tic

  [kaw-stik]
Use caustic in a Sentence
–adjective
1. capable of burning, corroding, or destroying living tissue.
2. severely critical or sarcastic: a caustic remark.
–noun
3. a caustic substance.
4. Optics.
a. caustic curve.
b. caustic surface.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L causticus < Gk kaustikós burning, caustic, equiv. to kaust(ós) burnt (v. adj. of kaíein to burn) + -ikos -ic

Related forms:
caus⋅ti⋅cal⋅ly, caus⋅tic⋅ly, adverb
caus⋅tic⋅i⋅ty  [kaw-stis-i-tee] , caus⋅tic⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
2. biting, mordant, bitter, scathing, acid.

caustic curve

 
–noun Optics.
a curve formed by a plane section of a caustic surface.
Also called caustic.

Origin:
1720–30

caustic surface

 
–noun Optics.
the surface to which all light rays emanating from a single point and reflected by a curved surface, as a concave mirror, are tangent.
Also called caustic.

Origin:
1865–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To caustic
caus·tic   (kô'stĭk)   
adj.  
  1. Capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action.
  2. Corrosive and bitingly trenchant; cutting. See Synonyms at sarcastic.
  3. Causing a burning or stinging sensation, as from intense emotion: "Most of all, there is caustic shame for my own stupidity" (Scott Turow).
n.  
  1. A caustic material or substance.
  2. A hydroxide of a light metal.
  3. 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : caustic
Spanish: cáustico,
German: kaustisch,
Japanese: 腐食性の
More Translations »

caustic 
1555, from O.Fr. caustique, from L. causticus, from Gk. kaustikos "capable of burning," from kaustos "combustible," from kaiein, the Gk. word for "to burn" in all periods, of uncertain origin with no known cognates outside Gk. Figurative sense of "sarcastic" is attested from 1771.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: 1caus·tic
Pronunciation: 'ko-stik
Function: adjective
: capable of destroying or eating away organic tissue and especiallyanimal tissue by chemical action caustic agents> —caus·ti·cal·ly /-sti-k(&-)lE/ adverb —caus·tic·i·ty /ko-'stis-&t-E/ noun plural -ties

Main Entry: 2caustic
Function: noun
: a caustic agent: as a : a substance that burns or destroys organic tissue by chemical action : ESCHAROTIC b : SODIUMHYDROXIDE
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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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.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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