lye

[ lahy ]

/ laɪ /

noun Chemistry.

a highly concentrated, aqueous solution of potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide.

any solution resulting from leaching, percolation, or the like.

Words nearby lye

lyddite, lydgate, lydia, lydian, lydian mode, lye, lye hominy, lyefish, lyell, lyell's disease, lyell, charles

Origin of lye

before 900; Middle English lie, ley, Old English lēag; cognate with Dutch loog, German Lauge lye, Old Norse laug warm bath. See lave¹

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH lye

lie lye

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lyes

Fama enim grescit eundo, even unto incredible wonders and miracles, or rather fictions, and lyes.
Spadacrene Anglica|Edmund Deane
The third may be, when it so falls out, that it lyes not in his power that made the promise to performe it.
Machiavelli, Volume I|Niccol Machiavelli
Again allow the lyes to settle and put aside a sample of the lye for comparison.
Soap-Making Manual|E. G. Thomssen
His first care is his clothes, and the next his body, and in the uniting of these two lyes his judgment.
Microcosmography|John Earle

Allow the lyes to settle and with an inverted pipette draw off the lyes into a test tube or bottle.
Soap-Making Manual|E. G. Thomssen

British Dictionary definitions for lyes

lye

/ (laɪ) /

noun

any solution obtained by leaching, such as the caustic solution obtained by leaching wood ash

a concentrated solution of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide

Word Origin for lye

Old English lēag; related to Middle Dutch lōghe, Old Norse laug bath, Latin lavāre to wash

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

Science definitions for lyes

lye

[ lī ]

A strong alkaline solution or solid of potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, made by allowing water to wash through wood ashes. It is used to make soap and drain and oven cleaners. Chemical formula: KOH or NaOH.