See Also: soap(encyclopedia)
Soap(medicine)
soap(1)(dictionary)
soap(2)(dictionary)
soap(dictionary)
tallow soap(medicine)
soap opera(encyclopedia)
Castile soap(medicine)
soap 1, noun(dictionary)
soap 2, verb(dictionary)

soap(1) (iou)



soap noun1.
[Old English sape = Middle & mod. Low German sepe, Middle Dutch seepe (Dutch zeep), Old High German seif(f)a (German Seife), from West Germanic, whence also Finnish saip(p)io, saip(p)ua, Lappish saipo, Latin sapo(n-).]
A cleansing or emulsifying agent formed by reacting natural oils and fats with sodium hydroxide or any strong alkali, usu. with added colouring matter and perfume; a particular type of this. Also, a heavy metal salt of a fatty acid, producing an insoluble soap used in lubricating grease etc. Cf. DETERGENT noun. OE.
Castile soap, lavender soap, marine soap, Naples soap, toilet soap etc. invert soap: see INVERT noun & adjective. metallic soap: see METALLIC adjective.
George Eliot A great ceremony with soap and water, from which baby came out in new beauty. D. Profumo The water's so soft you can hardly wash the soap off your face.
slang.
a. Flattery. M19.
b. Money. Now esp., that used in bribery. US. M19.
[So called because orig. sponsored in the US by soap manufacturers.] In full soap opera. A television or radio serial dealing with sentimental and melodramatic domestic themes and usu. broadcast in many episodes; this type of serial considered as a genre. M20.
attrib.: Times The dedication of soap viewers is astonishing.
Phrases: no soap slang (orig. & chiefly US) it's no good; I refuse, nothing doing. not know from a bar of soap colloq. (chiefly Austral.) not have the slightest acquaintance with. soap of glass, glass-maker's soap arch. manganese dioxide. wash a person's head without soap, wash one's mouth out with soap: see WASH verb.
Comb.: soap-ashes wood ashes used in forming a lye in soap-making; soapbark the bark of certain trees containing saponin and used as a substitute for soap; soapbark tree, a Chilean tree of the rose family, Quillaja saponaria, which has such bark; soapberry (a) the fruit of any of various trees of the genus Sapindus (family Sapindaceae), esp. S. saponaria, or of the leguminous tree Acacia concinna, used in certain countries as a substitute for soap; any of the trees bearing such a fruit; (b) N. Amer. the edible fruit of a buffalo berry, Shepherdia canadensis, which forms a soapy froth when crushed; the shrub bearing this fruit; soap-boiler (a) a person who boils (the ingredients of) soap, a soap manufacturer; (b) a pot used for boiling (the ingredients of) soap; soap-bubble an iridescent bubble composed of a thin film of soap and water; fig. a (usu. attractive) thing which does not last; soap cerate (now rare) Medicine a mixture containing soap, lead acetate, wax, and oil, applied externally to sprains, inflammations, etc.; soapfish any of numerous tropical marine fishes of the family Grammistidae, which produce large amounts of toxic mucus from the skin and have a soapy feel when handled; soap flakes soap in the form of thin flakes, used for washing clothes etc.; soap-house a place where soap is manufactured; soap-lees (obsolete exc. Hist.) spent soap-lye; soap-lye (now rare) a caustic alkaline lye obtained by running water over alternate layers of soda ash and quicklime, and used in soap-making; soap-nut = soapberry (a) above; soap opera: see sense 3 above; soap-operatic, soap-operatical adjectives characteristic of a soap opera; soap-plant (a) a Californian plant of the lily family, Chlorogalum pomeridianum, used as a substitute for soap; (b) = soapberry (a) above; soap powder detergent in the form of a powder; soap-rock, soapstone (a) Mineralogy steatite, massive talc; (b) Geology a soft metamorphic rock with a smooth greasy feel, composed of talc with micas etc., and readily sawn into slabs, carved, etc.; soap-stock a crude, partially saponified mixture of fatty acids formed as a by-product in the refining of natural fats; soapsuds froth or lather made from soap; esp. water in which clothes have been washed; soap-suddy, soap-sudsy adjectives (rare) of the nature of soapsuds; soap-tree any of various trees of which the roots, leaves, or fruits can be used as a substitute for soap; soapweed any of several yuccas or allied plants of the southern US with detergent properties, esp. Yucca elata and Y. glauca; soap-work(s) a soap factory; soapwort (a) any of various pink-flowered Eurasian plants constituting the genus Saponaria, of the pink family, with a juice which forms a lather with water; esp. S. officinalis, an old garden flower, (also called bouncing Bet); (b) any plant of the Sapindaceae or soapberry family.
soapie noun (colloq.) a soap opera M20.
soapless adjective (a) unwashed, dirty; (b) (of shampoo, detergent, etc.) not containing soap: E19.
soaplike adjective resembling (that of) soap M19.