verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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acidificationnoun
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acidifiernoun
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reacidificationnoun
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reacidifyverb
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acidifiableadjective
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semiacidifiedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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acidifysimple
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acidifiessimple
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have acidifiedperfect
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has acidifiedperfect
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am acidifyingprogressive
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are acidifyingprogressive
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is acidifyingprogressive
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have been acidifyingperfect progressive
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has been acidifyingperfect progressive
Past
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acidifiedsimple
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had acidifiedperfect
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was acidifyingprogressive
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were acidifyingprogressive
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had been acidifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of acidify
Explanation
To acidify something is to chemically turn it into an acid or make it more acidic. Farmers often acidify soil by adding fertilizer to it. When you acidify something, you increase its acid content or make it more sour. Too much carbon dioxide dissolving into oceans acidifies them, one of the many negative effects of global warming. When it comes to food, you're most likely to acidify a dish by adding citrus fruits, like lemons, which taste sour. The root word of the verb acidify is the Latin acidus, which means "sour or sharp."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Sulfides also acidify the water, which can accelerate weathering.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2024
The first step uses electricity to temporarily acidify the water, which encourages the removal of CO2.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 27, 2023
It is a process in which beneficial bacteria, yeasts, or other microorganisms break down and acidify food, transforming and preserving it.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2022
Together with one of her Ph.D. supervisors, JCU marine biologist Philip Munday, Dixson pioneered research into the effects on fish of rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere, which cause the oceans to acidify.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 9, 2022
Evaporate to a thin syrup, acidify strongly with phosphoric acid.
From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by J. W. H. (John William Henry) Eyre
Unfortunately, as CO2 emissions increase, it acidifies the ocean, which can make it less hospitable for life.
From Salon ● May 21, 2025
Too much nitrogen acidifies the ground, which reduces the amount of nutrients for plants and trees.
From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2023
Kungfu Kitchen does Shanghai soup dumplings, too, paired with a black-vinegar-and-syrup dipping sauce, which fortifies and acidifies the delicate broth that explodes from the dough walls on the first bite.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 13, 2021
Meanwhile, a growing shipping fleet continues to introduce noise and collide with large whales, persistent pollutants accumulate in the food web, the ocean acidifies, etc.; the list goes on.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 31, 2020
As often is the case in Peele’s work, comedy underlines the unease and acidifies into social critique, as when the nervous flyer approaches a couple of turbaned fellows who have not stowed their electronic devices.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 29, 2019
In general, the acidified seaweed broke more easily and died more often.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 25, 2023
Low oxygen levels, in addition to harming sea life, can disrupt food webs and even make marine water more acidified.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 27, 2021
PEA is known to warn mammals and sea creatures of predators and its effectiveness may be increased in an acidified ocean, researchers said.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2021
It may have also acidified Earth's oceans after its impact, according to a study published in October 2019.
From Fox News ● Jan. 17, 2020
I have here in solution uranium nitrate, plus potassium ferricyanide acidified with acetic acid.
From Spawn of the Comet by H. Thompson (Harold Thompson) Rich
Few countries are more exposed to climate change than Tuvalu, a chain of coral atolls reckoning with acidifying oceans, tropical disease and rising seas.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
Marine heat waves, acidifying oceans and other climate impacts are “significantly altering U.S. marine ecosystems at a pace, magnitude and extent that is unprecedented over millennia,” the report says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2023
These plantations can also directly degrade ecosystems by reducing stream flow, depleting groundwater, and acidifying soils.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2023
Regardless of how well nations accomplish that, big lakes probably will continue acidifying as they absorb carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere, plus carbon-laden water runoff from land, she said.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 19, 2022
The bismuth is precipitated by the addition of ammonic carbonate, and the solution, after filtering and acidifying with nitric acid, is re-electrolysed.
From A Text-book of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. by Cornelius Beringer
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
