# soap

Pronunciation: say "SOHP" US /soʊp/, UK /səʊp/

## Noun

1. A metallic salt of a fatty acid, used in many cleaning products.
   - Simple: A cleaning substance made when fats are mixed with strong chemicals.
   - _Traditional soap forms when animal fat reacts with sodium hydroxide._
   - _Hard water can make soap less effective at cleaning._
3. An ongoing television or radio drama serial, broadcast in regular episodes and following a continuing storyline. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A TV drama series that follows the same characters over many episodes.
   - _Millions of viewers tuned in to the long-running soap each evening._
   - _The actor got his start on a daytime soap before moving into film._
5. A detergent or other surfactant able to mix with both oil and water, used for cleaning, even when it is not a true soap. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A cleaning substance, like a detergent, that mixes with both oil and water.
   - _Most bathroom soap today is actually a synthetic detergent rather than a true fatty-acid salt._
   - _A few drops of soap let the water spread across the greasy surface._
6. Money, especially money used as a bribe. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Money, especially money given secretly to make someone do what you want.
   - _A bit of soap in the right pocket got the permit approved overnight._
   - _He claimed the official wouldn't move without some soap changing hands._
7. A brick or masonry unit made shallower or shorter than the standard size.
   - Simple: A brick that is thinner or shorter than a normal brick.
   - _The mason cut a soap to finish the course neatly against the window frame._
   - _Builders order soaps when a wall needs a thinner finishing course._
9. Thiopental sodium, a fast-acting barbiturate used in anesthesia and popularly regarded as a truth serum. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A strong drug that puts people to sleep, sometimes used to make them talk freely.
   - _Interrogators in the thriller injected the captive with soap._
   - _She joked that only a dose of soap would get him to confess._

## Verb

2. To apply soap to something in the process of washing it.
   - Simple: To rub soap onto something while washing it.
   - _He soaped the car thoroughly before hosing it down._
   - _Always soap your hands for at least twenty seconds._
4. To cover or smear something with soap, often as a prank. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To cover something with soap, often as a joke.
   - _Teenagers soaped the school windows the night before graduation._
   - _They threatened to soap every window on the street._
8. To keep a topic quiet and avoid discussing it openly. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To keep quiet about something and not talk about it openly.
   - _The committee soaped the scandal until after the election._
   - _Reporters were asked to soap the details for security reasons._

## Verb

10. To flatter or coax someone with smooth talk, usually to gain an advantage. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To flatter someone with kind words, often to get something from them.
   - _He tried to soap the magistrate with extravagant compliments._
   - _She soaped her wealthy aunt at every visit, angling for a spot in the will._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–8, 10** — From Middle English "sope," from Old English "sāpe" (soap, salve), going back through Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to pour out, drip, trickle." It is related to Dutch "zeep," German "Seife," and Swedish "såpa," and the Latin word "sāpō" was actually borrowed from Germanic.
**Meaning 9** — This sense is probably an abbreviation of "sodium pentothal."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/soap (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).