acid

A-sid/ˈæsɪd/

10 meanings of acid

1
nouncountable or uncountable
A liquid or chemical strong enough to burn or eat away other materials.
Like something that can slowly eat away at whatever it touches.
The acid ate through the metal pipe in minutes.
Workers wore thick gloves to keep the acid off their skin.
2
nouncountable or uncountable
A substance that tastes sour, like lemon juice or vinegar.
Like the sour taste you get from biting into a lemon.
Lemon juice contains a mild acid that makes it taste sour.
The acid in vinegar gives it that sharp, sour flavor.
3
nounslanguncountable
A powerful illegal drug that causes strong changes in what a person sees and feels.
They dropped acid at the festival and stared at the lights for hours.
He swore off acid after one frightening night.
SimilarLSD
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4
nouncountable or uncountable
A chemical that gives off hydrogen ions when it is mixed into water.
Like sugar disappearing into water, except it leaves behind tiny charged hydrogen bits.
When this acid dissolves, it fills the water with hydrogen ions.
An acid turns blue litmus paper red.
Oppositebase, alkali
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5
adjective
Tasting sour and sharp, like vinegar or lemon.
Like the sharp, mouth-puckering taste of a lemon.
The wine had an acid taste that made her wince.
These berries are still green and acid.
Similarsour, tart, sharp, vinegary, tangy
Oppositesweet
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6
adjective
Having to do with an acid, or behaving like one.
The soil here is too acid for these plants to grow well.
They measured the acid content of the lake water.
Similaracidic
Oppositealkaline, basic
7
adjectivefiguratively
Sharp and unkind in the way someone speaks or acts.
Like a sour taste, but in the way a person talks.
Her acid comment about the delay stung everyone.
He grew acid whenever the topic of money came up.
Similaracerbic, caustic, biting, cutting, sharp
Oppositegentle, kind
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8
nouncountable or uncountable
A chemical that easily gives a proton to a base, which is a chemical that takes protons.
Vinegar contains an acid that gives protons to baking soda, and that is what makes the mixture fizz.
Strong acids give up their protons very easily, but weak acids hold on to most of theirs.
Oppositebase
Note
9
nouncountable or uncountable
A chemical that takes a pair of electrons from another substance to form a bond.
Like a hand reaching out to grab a pair of electrons and hold on.
This acid takes in two electrons from a base to make a new bond.
A Lewis acid pulls in electrons from a base.
Oppositebase
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10
adjective
Describing a style of music that twists an older style into a strange, dreamlike form.
Like taking a normal song and bending it until it sounds like a dream.
They danced all night to acid house at the club.
His record collection was full of acid jazz.
Note

Practice

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Origin

From Latin acidus meaning "sour," which came through French acide into English.