peroxide
Americannoun
-
peroxides
plural
verb (used with object)
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peroxides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
peroxided,
past participle, past
-
peroxiding
present participle
noun
-
short for hydrogen peroxide, esp when used for bleaching hair
-
any of a class of metallic oxides, such as sodium peroxide, Na 2 O 2 , that contain the divalent ion – O-O –
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(not in technical usage) any of certain dioxides, such as manganese peroxide, MnO 2 , that resemble peroxides in their formula but do not contain the – O-O – ion
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any of a class of organic compounds whose molecules contain two oxygen atoms bound together. They tend to be explosive
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(modifier) of, relating to, bleached with, or resembling peroxide
verb
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A compound containing the group O 2. Peroxides are strong oxidizers and are used as industrial bleaches. When any peroxide is combined with an acid, one of the products is hydrogen peroxide.
-
Hydrogen peroxide.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
peroxidesimple
-
peroxidessimple
-
have peroxidedperfect
-
has peroxidedperfect
-
am peroxidingprogressive
-
are peroxidingprogressive
-
is peroxidingprogressive
-
have been peroxidingperfect progressive
-
has been peroxidingperfect progressive
Past
-
peroxidedsimple
-
had peroxidedperfect
-
was peroxidingprogressive
-
were peroxidingprogressive
-
had been peroxidingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of peroxide
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.
See Examples For:
For milder forms of face acne, dermatologists may recommend face washes or creams containing benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid or retinoids such as adapalene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
The researchers developed a method that uses oxygen and electricity to produce compounds used in plastics, medicines, adhesives, and other everyday materials without requiring the separate addition of peroxide oxidants.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
Crews spent days vacuuming the pool bottom after dumping gallon jugs of hydrogen peroxide into the water to abate the blooms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Officials have been using chemicals, including reportedly hydrogen peroxide, to clean a green algae bloom which has taken hold in the pool since it was re-filled following a paint job earlier this month.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Lilya was an eccentric beauty, a petite blonde who regularly sent her aircraft mechanic to pick up peroxide from a nearby hospital so she could bleach her hair.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
This allows GPX4 to neutralize lipid peroxides, harmful molecules that would otherwise damage the membrane.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 9, 2025
The ROSs and lipid peroxides then triggered intensive oxidative bursts, while the protons lowered the intracellular pH value, creating an unfavourable acidic microenvironment for the cancer cells.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2023
When ozone wafts into buildings, it reacts with limonene and similar molecules called monoterpenes, turning them into peroxides, alcohols, and other molecules that grow into airborne particles.
From Science Magazine ● Feb. 24, 2022
Hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, prepared from metal peroxides, is an important bleach and disinfectant.
From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019
The second includes such non-metallic bodies as carbon, silicon, many of the oxides and peroxides of the metals, and probably also some oxides of the non-metals, sulphides and selenides.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 8 "Conduction, Electric" by Various
Puffy-faced and peroxided, Koepka finally admitted, “I’ll be honest: I can’t compete with these guys week in and week out.”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 22, 2023
An earlier version of this review misidentified the film still of peroxided children shown in “R.R.R.E.D.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2018
Murray SawChuck, 38, a magician known for his spiky peroxided hair and a self-anointed role as “the Dennis the Menace of magic,” notes he is free in the evenings to attend other shows.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2016
With his peroxided locks, heavy mascara and volatile sensitivity, his Jackson is a cross between punky rockers Billy Idol and Billie Joe Armstrong, with a dash of corrupt, rabble-rousing politico Huey Long thrown in.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 21, 2012
When it was Dad’s move, I’d steal looks at him in his button-down shirt, trying to remember the fast-fading picture of the guy with peroxided hair and a leather jacket.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
