detergent

Pluraldetergents

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   A non-soap cleaning agent, especially a synthetic surfactant used for washing.

   Modern laundry detergent lifts stains better than old-fashioned soap.

   Many detergents contain enzymes that break down protein stains.

   Similarcleanser, cleaner

   Note

   Behind the everyday product is a Latin verb of wiping: dētergeō, from dē "off" and tergeō "wipe, polish", which reached English through French détergent. The noun is both a mass noun and a countable one (a shelf of detergents), and it usually comes qualified by its use or its form: laundry detergent, liquid detergent, powdered detergent. Cleaner is its looser, broader neighbor.

2. 2
   adjective

   Having a cleansing action; able to remove dirt or impurities.

   Rainwater alone has little detergent effect on the soot caked onto old stone buildings.

   Chemists tested the solution for its detergent properties before adding it to the formula.

   Similarcleansing

   Note

   The adjective stays closest to the Latin, where dētergēns was a present participle meaning "wiping off". It keeps that sense of an action at work, an action that the cleaning-agent noun turned into a substance. It means the same as cleansing and can be graded like any quality adjective: more detergent, most detergent.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2