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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
detergent
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
use
▪ Growth of Algae Phosphates are used in detergents, fertilisers and many other manufactured products.
▪ So I use the ordinary detergents that I keep in the cupboard for hand-washing and this works very well for me.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A Skin is waterproof and keeps harmful materials such as detergents and allergic compounds out, and water in.
▪ Lead crystal glass Hot water and dishwasher detergent can cause pitting or cracking.
▪ Oh, and by the way, have you heard about this hot new dishwashing detergent?
▪ Only liberal applications of self-awareness, preferably with some therapeutic detergent, will enable you to leave it at home.
▪ Scum is formed when soaps and detergents react with hard water.
▪ The bottle of detergent stood in reproachful isolation at one end of the table.
▪ Wash the interior with baking soda water or mild detergent.
▪ Wool sweaters felt too scratchy Clothes washed with certain detergents had a chemical smell.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Detergent

Detergent \De*ter"gent\, a. [L. detergens, -entis, p. pr. of detergere: cf. F. d['e]tergent.] Cleansing; purging. -- n. A substance which cleanses the skin, as water or soap; a medicine to cleanse wounds, ulcers, etc.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
detergent

1610s, from Latin detergentem (nominative detergens), present participle of detergere "to wipe away, cleanse," from de- "off, away" (see de-) + tergere "to rub, polish, wipe." Originally a medical term, application to "chemical cleansing product" is from 1938.

detergent

"detergent substance," 1670s, from detergent (adj.).

Wiktionary
detergent

a. Having the power to clean. n. Any non-soap cleaning agent, especially a synthetic surfactant.

WordNet
detergent

adj. having cleansing power [syn: detersive]

detergent
  1. n. a surface-active chemical widely used in industry and laundering

  2. a cleansing agent that differs from soap but can also emulsify oils and hold dirt in suspension

Wikipedia
Detergent

A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with "cleaning properties in dilute solutions." These substances are usually alkylbenzenesulfonates, a family of compounds that are similar to soap but are more soluble in hard water, because the polar sulfonate (of detergents) is less likely than the polar carboxyl (of soap) to bind to calcium and other ions found in hard water. In most household contexts, the term detergent by itself refers specifically to laundry detergent or dish detergent, as opposed to hand soap or other types of cleaning agents. Detergents are commonly available as powders or concentrated solutions. Detergents, like soaps, work because they are amphiphilic: partly hydrophilic (polar) and partly hydrophobic (non-polar). Their dual nature facilitates the mixture of hydrophobic compounds (like oil and grease) with water. Because air is not hydrophilic, detergents are also foaming agents to varying degrees.

Detergent (disambiguation)

A detergent is a surfactant with cleaning properties in dilute solutions.

Detergent may also refer to:

  • Biological detergent, a laundry detergent that contains enzymes
  • Laundry detergent, a cleaning agent for laundry
  • The Detergents, a 1960s musical group

Usage examples of "detergent".

I leant on the rail and looked at the water which was covered with detergent foam.

She and Alleyn and their son and his best girl might hire a longboat and cruise, not here, not between Tollardwark and Ramsdyke, but farther south or west where there was no detergent on the face of the waters.

A pretty dense film of detergent had been blown back and it was a particularly awkward job to examine it without destroying any evidence there might be.

Add a little detergent to the water to make this ant moat even more impenetrable.

Once you snag some fleas in the comb, dip them in a glass of water mixed with rubbing alcohol or detergent and watch the routed buggers sink to the bottom.

The detergent in the water breaks the surface tension, making it impossible for them to jump back out again.

They used it as a plot in movies and as a theme to sell songs - then after that shirts, detergent, anything you name.

The car was a pastiche, home-assembled from scrounged parts, complex, rimedmuch like the kind of cars assembled, maintained, and cruised in by Maryland hoods who roll cigarette packs into their sleeves and beat up sensitive heirs to detergent fortunes just on general principles.

She predicts he will, in the Eleemosynary period following a scarred divorce he wants to be depressed about, give away a detergent fortune to the United Redemption Charities Corporation.

New detergent scouring compounds containing phosphorus have the property of collecting and holding rare Earth elements, which are among the most abundant fission products resulting from an atomic blast.

So effective are these new detergent compounds that nearly 99 percent of the invisible but menacing radioactive particles are removed, according to tests reported by Dr.

Four years of Boy Scouts told him that detergent bottles made good floatation devices in a pinch.

Watching the debris swirling on the surface of the water and now fully able to appreciate just how unfragrant I had been, I threw in an extra quarter cup of detergent.

Aerosol sprays, asbestos, fiberglass, building materials of various types, dry cleaning fluids, spot removers, rug and upholstery cleaners, fabric finishes and cements, antistatic agents and fabric softeners, shoe-care products, spray starch, flame retardant, furniture and floor products, detergent soaps, lead soldered pipes, gasoline, oven cleaners, drain cleaners, bleaches, toilet bowl cleaners, window cleaners, scouring powders, plastics of various types and many more common household products may injure or kill.

He found one milk crate, five detergent bottles, three animal feedstuff bags, two soft-drink bottles and four bits of blue rope.