perborate

American

[per-bawr-eyt, -bohr-] / pərˈbɔr eɪt, -ˈboʊr- /

noun

Chemistry.

a salt of perboric acid, as sodium perborate, NaBO 3 ⋅4H 2 O, used for bleaching, disinfecting, etc.

perborate British

/ pəˈbɔːreɪt /

noun

any of certain salts derived, or apparently derived, from perboric acid. Perborates are used as bleaches in washing powders See sodium perborate

"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

Etymology

Origin of perborate

First recorded in 1880–85; per- + borate

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Lever will replace the enzymes in its Drive detergent with sodium perborate, a bleach.

From Time Magazine Archive

To kill the trench mouth spirochete, doctors usually swab their patients' swollen gums with hydrogen peroxide, silver salts or arsphenamine, prescribe mouthwashes of sodium perborate.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sodium perborate, Use of in soap powders, 57.

From Project Gutenberg

Sodium perborate is also used in peroxide soaps, as this substance is decomposed by water into hydrogen peroxide and sodium metaborate.

From Project Gutenberg

The perborate should be added when the powder is perfectly dry or it loses its bleaching properties.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023