oxalate

American  

[ok-suh-leyt] / ˈɒk səˌleɪt /

noun

Chemistry.

1. any salt or ester of oxalic acid, occurring in plants, especially spinach, rhubarb, and certain other vegetables and nuts, and capable of forming an insoluble salt with calcium and interfering with its absorption by the body.

---

oxalate British  

/ ˈɒksəˌleɪt /

noun

1. a salt or ester of oxalic acid

---

oxalate Scientific  

/ ŏk′sə-lāt′ /

1. A salt or ester of oxalic acid.

---

Other Word Forms

• superoxalate noun

Etymology

Origin of oxalate

First recorded in 1785–85; oxal(ic) + -ate ²

Example Sentences

Chocolate is a source of oxalate which, along with calcium, is one of the main components of kidney stones.

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2024

Historically, it was thought people with specific gut microbes, like one bacterium called Oxalobacter formigenes that breaks down oxalate, were less likely to form kidney stones.

From Science Daily • Dec. 21, 2023

Chewing a portion of its stem can render someone temporarily but painfully speechless, as the calcium oxalate crystals in it can cause throat and mouth swelling.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 2, 2023

Novome Biotechnologies, for example, has endowed a seaweed-digesting bacterium with the ability to degrade dietary oxalate, a compound that can lead to kidney stones.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 1, 2022

Ox′alite, a yellow mineral composed of oxalate of iron.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various