vat dye

American

noun

Chemistry.

any of the class of insoluble dyes impregnated into textile fibers by reduction into soluble leuco bases that regenerate the insoluble dye on oxidation.

vat dye British

noun

a dye, such as indigo, that is applied by first reducing it to its leuco base, which is soluble in alkali, and then regenerating the insoluble dye by oxidation in the fibres of the material

"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

Other Word Forms

vat-dyed adjective

Etymology

Origin of vat dye

First recorded in 1900–05

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.

Indigo, a typical vat dye, is prepared both artificially and from natural sources.

From Project Gutenberg

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