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| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| soap (səʊp) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | See also detergent a cleaning or emulsifying agent made by reacting animal or vegetable fats or oils with potassium or sodium hydroxide. Soaps often contain colouring matter and perfume and act by emulsifying grease and lowering the surface tension of water, so that it more readily penetrates open materials such as textilesRelated: saponaceous |
| 2. | See also metallic soap any metallic salt of a fatty acid, such as palmitic or stearic acid |
| 3. | slang flattery or persuasive talk (esp in the phrase soft soap) |
| 4. | informal short for soap opera |
| 5. | slang (US), (Canadian) money, esp for bribery |
| 6. | slang (US), (Canadian) no soap not possible or successful |
| —vb (often foll by up) | |
| 7. | (tr) to apply soap to |
| 8. | slang |
| a. to flatter or talk persuasively to | |
| b. (US), (Canadian) to bribe | |
| Related: saponaceous | |
| [Old English sāpe; related to Old High German seipfa, Old French savon, Latin sāpō] | |
| 'soapless | |
| —adj | |
| 'soaplike | |
| —adj | |
soap (sōp)
n.
A cleansing agent made from a mixture of the sodium salts of various fatty acids of natural oils and fats.
A metallic salt of a fatty acid, as of aluminum or iron.
| soap (sōp) Pronunciation Key
A substance used for washing or cleaning, consisting of a mixture of sodium or potassium salts of naturally occurring fatty acids. Like detergents, soaps work by surrounding particles of grease or dirt with their molecules, thereby allowing them to be carried away. Unlike detergents, soaps react with the minerals common in most water, forming an insoluble film that remains on fabrics. For this reason soap is not as efficient a cleaner as most detergents. The film is also what causes rings to form in bathtubs. Compare detergent. |
soap definition
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