soap plant

American  

noun

1. a Californian plant, Chlorogalum pomeridianum, of the lily family, the bulb of which was used by the Indians as a soap.

2. any of various other plants having parts that can be used as a soap.

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Etymology

Origin of soap plant

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45

Example Sentences

At 26, he was sent abroad to help take over a small soap plant in England, there got a good education in a diversity of problems: manufacturing, purchasing, delivery.

From Time Magazine Archive

No fixed plan for the construction and equipment of a soap plant can be given.

From Soap-Making Manual A Practical Handbook on the Raw Materials, Their Manipulation, Analysis and Control in the Modern Soap Plant. by Thomssen, E. G.

One of them is called the soap plant.

From St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, September 1878, No. 11 by Dodge, Mary Mapes

Each Indian supplies himself with two dried stalks of the Mexican soap plant, about three-fourths of an inch in diameter.

From Seven and Nine years Among the Camanches and Apaches An Autobiography by Johnson, Clark, M.D.

Besides the various apparatus mentioned above there are many other parts for the full equipment of a modern soap plant, such as remelters, pumps, mixers, special tanks, power equipment, etc.

From Soap-Making Manual A Practical Handbook on the Raw Materials, Their Manipulation, Analysis and Control in the Modern Soap Plant. by Thomssen, E. G.