sodium hydroxide

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noun Chemistry.

a white, deliquescent, water-soluble solid, NaOH, usually in the form of lumps, sticks, chips, or pellets, that upon solution in water generates heat: used chiefly in the manufacture of other chemicals, rayon, film, soap, as a laboratory reagent, and in medicine as a caustic.

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Also called caustic soda, soda.

Origin of sodium hydroxide

First recorded in 1880–85

Words nearby sodium hydroxide

sodium fluoride, sodium fluoroacetate, sodium glutamate, sodium hexametaphosphate, sodium hydrosulfite, sodium hydroxide, sodium hypochlorite, sodium hyposulfite, sodium hyposulphite, sodium iodide, sodium lactate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use sodium hydroxide in a sentence

The crushed bauxite is then mixed with sodium hydroxide to extract aluminum oxide, leaving behind a highly toxic red sludge in the process.
A North Carolina town struggles under the toxic shadow of the company that built it|Emily Cataneo/Undark|December 17, 2021|Popular-Science
The attack took place at the city’s water treatment plant, which purifies groundwater for drinking using filters and chemicals, including small amounts of sodium hydroxide.
America’s Drinking Water Is Surprisingly Easy to Poison|by Peter Elkind and Jack Gillum|March 17, 2021|ProPublica
Authorities estimate the hacker had access for three to five minutes, and during that time, they adjusted the level of sodium hydroxide in the water from a normal 100 parts per million all the way up to 11,100 parts per million.
Hackers accessed a Florida water treatment plant’s system and tried to make a dangerous change|Stan Horaczek|February 9, 2021|Popular-Science
The intruder changed the level of sodium hydroxide to 11,100 parts per million, a significant increase from the normal amount of 100 ppm, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said in a Monday morning press conference.
Computer intruder tried to poison Florida city’s drinking water with lye|Dan Goodin|February 8, 2021|Ars Technica

For example, Kuwait recently put a limit the allowable amount of sodium in bread to lower blood pressure.
The Secret to Tracking Ebola, MERS, and Flu? Sewers|Wudan Yan|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For all intents and purposes, sodium thiopental is now unavailable in the United States.
Pennsylvania’s Lethal Injection Fiasco|Christopher Moraff|September 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sports drinksSugar and sodium are good things when it comes to sports drinks!
10 Ways to Stay Hydrated (That Aren’t Water)|DailyBurn|July 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But for more rigorous sweat sessions, the low-sodium drink does come up short in replenishing the salt your body loses.
10 Ways to Stay Hydrated (That Aren’t Water)|DailyBurn|July 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Other measurements on nutrition labels—calories, fat, sodium—are passive: They simply state how much is in the food.
Guess Who Doesn’t Want You to Know How Much Added Sugar Is in Your Food|Tim Mak|July 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The metal is then removed, and washed successively with very dilute sodium hydroxid solution, alcohol, and ether.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
This fluid is then heated, adding crystals of sodium acetate until it becomes perfectly clear.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
Rarely, sodium urate occurs in crystalline form—slender prisms, arranged in fan- or sheaf-like structures (Fig. 32).
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
Glass rods and tubing of sodium glass: for stirring rods, urinary pipets, etc.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
Sodium and alcohol reduce common camphor to a mixture of d- and l-borneol.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2|Various

British Dictionary definitions for sodium hydroxide

sodium hydroxide

noun

a white deliquescent strongly alkaline solid used in the manufacture of rayon, paper, aluminium, soap, and sodium compounds. Formula: NaOHAlso called: caustic soda See also lye

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

Medical definitions for sodium hydroxide

sodium hydroxide

A strongly alkaline compound used externally.caustic soda

Scientific definitions for sodium hydroxide

sodium hydroxide

A white, corrosive, solid compound that absorbs water and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and forms lye when in solution. Sodium hydroxide is toxic and strongly alkaline and is used to make chemicals and soaps and to refine petroleum. Chemical formula: NaOH.