sulfuric acid

American

noun

Chemistry.

a clear, colorless to brownish, dense, oily, corrosive, water-miscible liquid, H 2 SO 4 , usually produced from sulfur dioxide: used chiefly in the manufacture of fertilizers, chemicals, explosives, and dyestuffs and in petroleum refining.

sulfuric acid Scientific

A strong corrosive acid. It combines very easily with water, making it a good drying agent. Sulfuric acid is the most widely used acid in industry. It is used to make detergents, dyes, drugs, explosives, pigments, fertilizers, and many other products. It is also the acid in lead-acid electric batteries. Chemical formula: H ₂ SO ₄ .

Etymology

Origin of sulfuric acid

First recorded in 1780–90

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.

War has played a part in pushing copper prices to records, because the fighting choked off supplies of sulfuric acid needed to produce a big chunk of the world’s copper.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026

That’s raising questions about alternative routes to get sulfuric acid out of the Middle East, said Edward Meir, an analyst at Marex.

From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026

Sulfur, which is used to produce sulfuric acid, is a byproduct of the oil-refining process.

From MarketWatch • May 12, 2026

Municipal water treatment depends on sulfuric acid, as do battery and semiconductor makers.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026

In the burning of coal and oil and gasoline, we are also putting sulfuric acid into the atmosphere.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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