bleaching powder


nounChemistry.
  1. a white powder that decomposes on contact with water and has the characteristic odor of gaseous chlorine: regarded, when dry, as a mixed calcium hypochlorite-chloride, used as a commercial bleach for wood pulp, textiles, oils, and soaps, and in laundering as a decolorizer and disinfectant.

Origin of bleaching powder

1
First recorded in 1850–55

Words Nearby bleaching powder

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bleaching powder in a sentence

  • Place a quarter of an ounce of bleaching powder in a quart bottle containing a pint of water.

    Textiles | William H. Dooley
  • bleaching powder cannot be used in bleaching animal fibers such as woolen and silk fabrics.

    Textiles | William H. Dooley
  • In times of peace this gas is chiefly used for making bleaching powder.

  • bleaching powder, lime, and picric acid are received by rail.

  • "Acagine," a mixture of bleaching powder with fifteen per cent of lead chromate.

British Dictionary definitions for bleaching powder

bleaching powder

noun
  1. a white powder with the odour of chlorine, consisting of chlorinated calcium hydroxide with an approximate formula CaCl(OCl).4H 2 O. It is used in solution as a bleaching agent and disinfectant: Also called: chloride of lime, chlorinated lime

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