ALKALI • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Alkali

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/ˈælkəlˌaɪ/ Listen

noun

Alkali n. (pl. alkalis or alkalies)

Soda ash; caustic soda, caustic potash, etc.

(Chem.) One of a class of caustic bases, such as soda, potash, ammonia, and lithia, whose distinguishing peculiarities are solubility in alcohol and water, uniting with oils and fats to form soap, neutralizing and forming salts with acids, turning to brown several vegetable yellows, and changing reddened litmus to blue.

Soluble mineral matter, other than common salt, contained in soils of natural waters. (Western U. S.)

Fixed alkalies, potash and soda.

Vegetable alkalies. Same as Alkaloids.

Volatile alkali, ammonia, so called in distinction from the fixed alkalies.

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Etymology of 'Alkali'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Alkali" Quotes from Famous Books

... is an evidence of health, and gives additional grace to the most regular features. The choice of soaps has considerable influence in promoting and maintaining this desideratum. These should invariably be selected of the finest kinds, and used sparingly, and never with cold water, for the alkali which, more or less, mingles in the composition of all soaps has an undoubted tendency to irritate a delicate skin; warm water excites a gentle perspiration, thereby assisting the skin to throw off those natural secretions which, if allowed to remain, are likely to accumulate ...

— The Ladies Book of Useful Information - Compiled from many sources • Anonymous

... of contriving a harmony between such a son and such a metier. The old man was left to recover from the sting inflicted by the Leppins, to study over the future of his youngest daughter, to keep a careful eye upon his business associates, and to combat—as one combats the alkali dust of the Plains—all the insinuating minutiae of house-building. The new home of the Marshalls moved on with the summer, and reached in due course the stage when such elemental features as walls and roofs gave way to the minor considerations involved in ...

— With the Procession • Henry B. Fuller

... resemblance to carnauba wax. It is lighter than water, has a waxy lustre, is somewhat translucent, is easily powdered, and melts below the boiling point of water. It is insoluble in water, but dissolves in alcohol and in ether. When boiled with weak caustic soda it melts but is not dissolved by the alkali; it can, however, be dissolved by boiling with alcoholic caustic potash. This wax is found fairly uniformly distributed over the surface of the cotton fibre, and it is due to this fact that raw cotton is wetted by water ...

— The Dyeing of Cotton Fabrics - A Practical Handbook for the Dyer and Student • Franklin Beech

... them, they gave a most war-like impression. Miller, who had reconnoitered the village before we entered it, stood watching us as we came in. He said that we reminded him of troops of United States cavalry as he had seen them on the alkali plains of New Mexico and Arizona. It was again my duty to station our pickets and out-posts, and as I came back after placing the sentries, the fires were twinkling all over the plaza and throwing grotesque shadows of the men and the mules ...

— Captain Macklin • Richard Harding Davis

... united and the great cities of the Atlantic seaboard and San Francisco at the setting sun were brought into communication with each other by an iron way which has promoted our civilisation in a marked degree. A night ride over the Alkali Plains of Nevada, famous for their sage brush, was a novelty, and in the clear atmosphere they looked like ...

— By the Golden Gate • Joseph Carey

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