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soap
[sohp]
noun
a substance used for washing and cleansing purposes, usually made by treating a fat with an alkali, as sodium or potassium hydroxide, and consisting chiefly of the sodium or potassium salts of the acids contained in the fat.
any metallic salt of an acid derived from a fat.
Slang.money, especially as used for bribery in politics.
Slang.Also soap opera.
verb (used with object)
to rub, cover, lather, or treat with soap.
soap
/ əʊ /
noun
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 textiles See also detergent
any metallic salt of a fatty acid, such as palmitic or stearic acid See also metallic soap
slangflattery or persuasive talk (esp in the phrase soft soap )
informalshort for soap opera
slangmoney, esp for bribery
slangnot possible or successful
verb
(tr) to apply soap to
slang
to flatter or talk persuasively to
to bribe
soap
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
Other 51Թ Forms
- soapless adjective
- soaplike adjective
- oversoap verb (used with object)
- unsoaped adjective
- ˈDzˌ adjective
- ˈDz adjective
51Թ History and Origins
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of soap1
Idioms and Phrases
no soap, no go.
He wanted me to vote for him, but I told him no soap.
Example Sentences
Ms Beeching says recent news has pulled the family "away from legacy-building and into soap opera territory, which was never their lane".
Murderbot is stoic but awkward and unaccustomed to human emotions, which it learns about by surreptitiously watching hours of soap operas.
The newspaper said that Borthwick, who plays Jay Brown - a key long-running character on the soap - apologised for "any offence and upset".
She added jokingly: "I was going to say, when the press say, 'Who do you want to win best soap?' I say, 'Well, I don't mind because I've been in all of them.'"
It would rather watch humans on the space soap opera because that's safe.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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