deodorant

Pluraldeodorants

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A substance applied to the underarms to counteract the odor caused by perspiration.

   She keeps a travel-sized deodorant in her gym bag.

   Many deodorants now come in plastic-free packaging.

   Note

   The everyday toiletry, narrowed from the general odor-controlling agent to the underarm. It belongs with after-shave and lotions on the bathroom shelf, and like them it counts: one deodorant, several deodorants. Keep it apart from antiperspirant, which reduces sweat itself. A deodorant only masks or neutralizes the smell that arises when skin bacteria break perspiration down.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   Any substance that eliminates, reduces, masks, or controls an unpleasant smell.

   Industrial deodorants are sprayed inside trucks that haul livestock.

   She added a natural deodorant to the trash can to control the smell.

   Similardeodorizer, freshener

   Note

   Built from Latin de- and odorans, the present participle of odorare, "to smell", which itself comes from odor. Read in English terms it is de- + odor + -ant: something that takes smell away, with -ant doing the agent work it does in disinfectant or coolant. That breadth is the point here. Masking a smell counts as much as removing it, and the underarm product is one narrowing of it.

3. 3
   adjective

   Acting to eliminate, reduce, mask, or control odor, or containing an agent that does so.

   The cleaner has deodorant properties that remove lingering kitchen smells.

   Hospitals use deodorant compounds to keep the wards smelling clean.

   Note

   An adjective that classifies rather than describes. A product either is deodorant or is not, so it takes no comparative or superlative. It usually stands before its noun, and its opposite is formed with non-, as in Amy C Lee Wong's 1987 contrast between Playtex deodorant and nondeodorant tampons. In that same sentence the noun appears too ("the deodorant"), so position decides which part of speech is meant.

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