Caustic

Caustic
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. [1913 Webster]

2. Severe; satirical; sharp; as, a caustic remark. [1913 Webster]

{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. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Caustic — may refer to: * Causticity, the property of a substance that causes corrosion ** Sodium hydroxide, sometimes called caustic soda ** Potassium hydroxide, sometimes called caustic potash ** Calcium oxide, sometimes called caustic lime * Caustic… …   Wikipedia

  • caustic — CAÚSTIC, Ă, caustici, ce, adj., s.f. 1. adj. (Despre substanţe chimice) Care arde, distruge ţesutul animal şi vegetal. ♢ Sodă caustică = hidrat de sodiu cristalizat, cu multe întrebuinţări în industrie. 2. adj. fig. Muşcător, satiric. 3. s.f.… …   Dicționar Român

  • caustic — caustic, mordant, acrid, scathing are comparable when they mean stingingly incisive. Caustic usually implies a biting wit, a ready tongue or pen, and the power to drive disagreeable truths home { I really do not know what to do with my books, he… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 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. [1913 Webster] 2. (Optics) A caustic… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • caustic — [kôs′tik] adj. [ME caustik < L causticus < Gr kaustikos < kaustos, burning < kaiein, to burn] 1. that can burn, eat away, or destroy tissue by chemical action; corrosive 2. cutting or sarcastic in utterance; biting 3. designating or… …   English World dictionary

  • caustic — c.1400, from O.Fr. caustique, from L. causticus burning, caustic, from Gk. kaustikos capable of burning, from kaustos combustible, from kaiein, the Greek word for to burn (trans. and intrans.) in all periods, of uncertain origin with no certain… …   Etymology dictionary

  • caustic — [adj1] burning, corrosive abrasive, acerbic, acid, acrid, alkaline, astringent, biting, corroding, erosive, keen, mordant, pungent, tart; concept 485 Ant. calm, mild, soothing caustic [adj2] sarcastic acerb, acerbic, acrimonious, bitter, cutting …   New thesaurus

  • caustic — ► ADJECTIVE 1) able to burn or corrode organic tissue by chemical action. 2) scathingly sarcastic. ► NOUN ▪ a caustic substance. DERIVATIVES caustically adverb. ORIGIN Greek kaustikos, from kaustos combustible …   English terms dictionary

  • Caustic — Caustic. См. Каустик. (Источник: «Металлы и сплавы. Справочник.» Под редакцией Ю.П. Солнцева; НПО Профессионал , НПО Мир и семья ; Санкт Петербург, 2003 г.) …   Словарь металлургических терминов

  • caustic — I adjective abrasive, abrupt, acerbus, acrid, acrimonious, acute, astringent, austere, biting, brash, burning, corroding, corrosive, cruel, curt, cutting, derisive, derisory, envenomed, erosive, excorciating, excruciating, harsh, hurtful,… …   Law dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”