oxalic acid
a white, crystalline, water-soluble, poisonous acid, H2C2O4⋅2H2O, first discovered in the juice of the wood sorrel species of oxalis and obtained by reacting carbon monoxide with sodium hydroxide or certain carbohydrates with acids or alkalis: used chiefly for bleaching, as a cleanser, and as a laboratory reagent.
Origin of oxalic acid
1Words Nearby oxalic acid
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use oxalic acid in a sentence
It’s sometimes possible to lighten stains with chemicals such as oxalic acid, but you’d also need to refinish the floor.
The oxalic acid in sorrel is an irritant poison, causing retching and violent pains.
Irish Witchcraft and Demonology | St. John D. (St. John Drelincourt) SeymourIts resistance is at once overcome by flooding it with a poison, probably oxalic acid.
Chromic and nitric acids oxidize it to oxalic acid and carbon dioxide.
On digestion of its warm aqueous solution with warm dilute sulphuric acid, hydrazine sulphate and oxalic acid are obtained.
As it is, the oxalic acid weakened the fibre so that we have had to darn it.
Brenda's Ward | Helen Leah Reed
British Dictionary definitions for oxalic acid
/ (ɒkˈsælɪk) /
a colourless poisonous crystalline dicarboxylic acid found in many plants: used as a bleach and a cleansing agent for metals. Formula: (COOH) 2: Systematic name: ethanedioic acid
Origin of oxalic acid
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for oxalic acid
[ ŏk-săl′ĭk ]
A poisonous, crystalline acid found in a number of plants such as sorrel and the leaf blades of rhubarb. It is used for many industrial purposes, including rust removal and bleaching. Chemical formula: C2H2O4.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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