stearic acid

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. a colorless, waxlike, sparingly water-soluble, odorless solid, C 1 8 H 3 6 O 2 , the most common fatty acid, occurring as the glyceride in tallow and other animal fats and in some animal oils: used chiefly in the manufacture of soaps, stearates, candles, cosmetics, and in medicine in suppositories and pill coatings.

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stearic acid British  

noun

1. a colourless odourless insoluble waxy carboxylic acid used for making candles and suppositories; octadecanoic acid. Formula: CH 3 (CH 2 ) 16 COOH See also stearin

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stearic acid Scientific  

/ stē-ăr′ĭk,stîr′ĭk /

1. A colorless, odorless, waxlike fatty acid occurring in animal and vegetable fats and used in making soaps, candles, lubricants, and other products. Chemical formula: C ₁₈ H ₃₆ O ₂ .

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Etymology

Origin of stearic acid

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

Dryer sheets don’t magically make clothes inherently softer, they make them feel softer by coating them with a softening agent, like stearic acid.

From Slate • Apr. 17, 2023

Dark chocolate is higher in fat than milk chocolate, but much of it is a combination of the heart-healthy monounsaturated kind and stearic acid, a type of saturated fat that doesn’t raise cholesterol.

From Washington Post • Feb. 21, 2022

When animal fats are treated with a base like potassium carbonate or sodium hydroxide, glycerol and salts of fatty acids such as palmitic, oleic, and stearic acid are formed.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

To be fair, some saturated fats – such as stearic acid and lauric acid – have recently been shown to have neutral effects on blood cholesterol levels.

From US News • Oct. 14, 2015

Probably stearic acid is the main constituent of this fatty acid.

From The Dyeing of Cotton Fabrics A Practical Handbook for the Dyer and Student by Beech, Franklin