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dissolvent

[dih-zol-vuh nt]
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adjective
  1. capable of dissolving another substance.
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noun
  1. a solvent.
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Origin of dissolvent

First recorded in 1640–50, dissolvent is from the Latin word dissolvent- (stem of dissolvēns, present participle of dissolvere). See dis-1, solvent
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dissolvent

Historical Examples

  • Let us trace the disastrous effects of these three dissolvent forces.

    Guilds in the Middle Ages

    George Renard

  • There are organizations which it affects like a dissolvent, there are others which it affects like wine.

    Eden

    Edgar Saltus

  • He intended it for a dissolvent of calx of gold; but the truth is, Sir Kenelm was an arrant mountebank.

  • If dissolvent ideas do make their way, it is because the society was already ripe for dissolution.

    On Compromise

    John Morley

  • Equality, as a phrase, having done duty as a dissolvent, was pressed into service as a constructor.

British Dictionary definitions for dissolvent

dissolvent

noun
  1. a rare word for solvent (def. 3)
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adjective
  1. able to dissolve
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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