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direct dye

British  

noun

  1. any of a number of dyes that can be applied without the use of a mordant. They are usually azo dyes applied to cotton or rayon from a liquid bath containing an electrolyte such as sodium sulphate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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The direct dyes are so called because they dye cotton without the aid of any mordanting process.

From Project Gutenberg

These three compounds are basic, and the first of them is no longer used as a direct dye because it is fugitive.

From Project Gutenberg

In dealing with the first of the above groups of dyes, the direct dyes, the colourist is somewhat at a loss to explain in what manner the combination with the cotton fibre is brought about.

From Project Gutenberg

Formerly the dyeing of these offered many difficulties before the application of the direct dyes was properly understood.

From Project Gutenberg

Referring first to the wool patterns and to the "direct dyes," we find that the only really fast colors are Prussian blue and Vat indigo blue.

From Project Gutenberg