What is "hydroxyacetic acid"

Glycolic \Gly*col"ic\, a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, glycol; as, glycolic ether; glycolic acid.

Glycolic acid (Chem.), an organic acid, found naturally in unripe grapes and in the leaves of the wild grape ( Ampelopsis quinquefolia), and produced artificially in many ways, as by the oxidation of glycol, -- whence its name. It is a sirupy, or white crystalline, substance, HO.CH2.CO2H, has the properties both of an alcohol and an acid, and is a type of the hydroxy acids; -- called also hydroxyacetic acid.

n. glycolic acid.

n. a translucent crystalline compound found in sugar cane and sugar beets and unripe grapes [syn: glycolic acid, glycollic acid]