catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  Soap \Soap\, n. [OE. sope, AS. s[=a]pe; akin to D. zeep, G.
     seife, OHG. seifa, Icel. s[=a]pa, Sw. s?pa, Dan. s?be, and
     perhaps to AS. s[=i]pan to drip, MHG. s[=i]fen, and L. sebum
     tallow. Cf. Saponaceous.]
     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.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: In general, soaps are of two classes, hard and soft.
           Calcium, magnesium, lead, etc., form soaps, but they
           are insoluble and useless.
           [1913 Webster]
  
                 The purifying action of soap depends upon the
                 fact that it is decomposed by a large quantity of
                 water into free alkali and an insoluble acid
                 salt. The first of these takes away the fatty
                 dirt on washing, and the latter forms the soap
                 lather which envelops the greasy matter and thus
                 tends to remove it.                --Roscoe &
                                                    Schorlemmer.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Castile soap, a fine-grained hard soap, white or mottled,
        made of olive oil and soda; -- called also Marseilles
        soap or Venetian soap.
  
     Hard soap, any one of a great variety of soaps, of
        different ingredients and color, which are hard and
        compact. All solid soaps are of this class.
  
     Lead soap, an insoluble, white, pliable soap made by
        saponifying an oil (olive oil) with lead oxide; -- used
        externally in medicine. Called also lead plaster,
        diachylon, etc.
  
     Marine soap. See under Marine.
  
     Pills of soap (Med.), pills containing soap and opium.
  
     Potash soap, any soap made with potash, esp. the soft
        soaps, and a hard soap made from potash and castor oil.
  
     Pumice soap, any hard soap charged with a gritty powder, as
        silica, alumina, powdered pumice, etc., which assists
        mechanically in the removal of dirt.
  
     Resin soap, a yellow soap containing resin, -- used in
        bleaching.
  
     Silicated soap, a cheap soap containing water glass (sodium
        silicate).
  
     Soap bark. (Bot.) See Quillaia bark.
  
     Soap bubble, a hollow iridescent globe, formed by blowing a
        film of soap suds from a pipe; figuratively, something
        attractive, but extremely unsubstantial.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              This soap bubble of the metaphysicians. --J. C.
                                                    Shairp.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Soap cerate, a cerate formed of soap, olive oil, white wax,
        and the subacetate of lead, sometimes used as an
        application to allay inflammation.
  
     Soap fat, the refuse fat of kitchens, slaughter houses,
        etc., used in making soap.
  
     Soap liniment (Med.), a liniment containing soap, camphor,
        and alcohol.
  
     Soap nut, the hard kernel or seed of the fruit of the
        soapberry tree, -- used for making beads, buttons, etc.
  
     Soap plant (Bot.), one of several plants used in the place
        of soap, as the Chlorogalum pomeridianum, a California
        plant, the bulb of which, when stripped of its husk and
        rubbed on wet clothes, makes a thick lather, and smells
        not unlike new brown soap. It is called also soap apple,
        soap bulb, and soap weed.
  
     Soap tree. (Bot.) Same as Soapberry tree.
  
     Soda soap, a soap containing a sodium salt. The soda soaps
        are all hard soaps.
  
     Soft soap, a soap of a gray or brownish yellow color, and
        of a slimy, jellylike consistence, made from potash or the
        lye from wood ashes. It is strongly alkaline and often
        contains glycerin, and is used in scouring wood, in
        cleansing linen, in dyehouses, etc. Figuratively,
        flattery; wheedling; blarney. [Colloq.]
  
     Toilet soap, hard soap for the toilet, usually colored and
        perfumed.
        [1913 Webster]

  Venetian \Ve*ne"tian\, a. [Cf. It. Veneziano, L. Venetianus.]
     Of or pertaining to Venice in Italy.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Venetian blind, a blind for windows, doors, etc., made of
        thin slats, either fixed at a certain angle in the
        shutter, or movable, and in the latter case so disposed as
        to overlap each other when close, and to show a series of
        open spaces for the admission of air and light when in
        other positions.
  
     Venetian carpet, an inexpensive carpet, used for passages
        and stairs, having a woolen warp which conceals the weft;
        the pattern is therefore commonly made up of simple
        stripes.
  
     Venetian chalk, a white compact or steatite, used for
        marking on cloth, etc.
  
     Venetian door (Arch.), a door having long, narrow windows
        or panes of glass on the sides.
  
     Venetian glass, a kind of glass made by the Venetians, for
        decorative purposes, by the combination of pieces of glass
        of different colors fused together and wrought into
        various ornamental patterns.
  
     Venetian red, a brownish red color, prepared from sulphate
        of iron; -- called also scarlet ocher.
  
     Venetian soap. See Castile soap, under Soap.
  
     Venetian sumac (Bot.), a South European tree ({Rhus
        Cotinus) which yields the yellow dyewood called fustet;
        -- also called smoke tree.
  
     Venetian window (Arch.), a window consisting of a main
        window with an arched head, having on each side a long and
        narrow window with a square head.
        [1913 Webster]

  Venetian \Ve*ne"tian\, a. [Cf. It. Veneziano, L. Venetianus.]
     Of or pertaining to Venice in Italy.
  
     Venetian blind, a blind for windows, doors, etc., made of
        thin slats, either fixed at a certain angle in the
        shutter, or movable, and in the latter case so disposed as
        to overlap each other when close, and to show a series of
        open spaces for the admission of air and light when in
        other positions.
  
     Venetian carpet, an inexpensive carpet, used for passages
        and stairs, having a woolen warp which conceals the weft;
        the pattern is therefore commonly made up of simple
        stripes.
  
     Venetian chalk, a white compact or steatite, used for
        marking on cloth, etc.
  
     Venetian door (Arch.), a door having long, narrow windows
        or panes of glass on the sides.
  
     Venetian glass, a kind of glass made by the Venetians, for
        decorative purposes, by the combination of pieces of glass
        of different colors fused together and wrought into
        various ornamental patterns.
  
     Venetian red, a brownish red color, prepared from sulphate
        of iron; -- called also scarlet ocher.
  
     Venetian soap. See Castile soap, under Soap.
  
     Venetian sumac (Bot.), a South European tree ({Rhus
        Cotinus) which yields the yellow dyewood called fustet;
        -- also called smoke tree.
  
     Venetian window (Arch.), a window consisting of a main
        window with an arched head, having on each side a long and
        narrow window with a square head.

  Venetian soap
     n.
     (syn of en Castile soap)

  Venetian soap
     n.
     (syn of en Castile soap)

  Venetian soap
     n.
     (syn of en Castile soap)

  Venetian soap
     n.
     (syn of en Castile soap)