lye

CEFRB2

/laɪ/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A strong chemical used in making soap and cleaning products.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Potassium or sodium hydroxide (caustic soda).

Examples

  • Lye is a key ingredient in the soap-making process.

  • Now negligent of sports I lye, And now as other Fawkners use, I spring a mistresse, sweare, write, sigh and weepe: And the game kill'd, or lost, goe talk, and sleepe.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. To treat with lye.

  2. An alkaline liquid made by leaching ashes (usually wood ashes).

  3. A short side line, connected with the main line; a turn-out; a siding.

More examples

In context

  • She had not left the lye in too long so that the hair would fall out in clumps later.

  • Brakevan lye. [same page in the main text] There is also an inclined lye for brakevans at each end of the yard.

  • But when his foe lyes proſtrate on the plain, He ſheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane; And, pleas'd with bloudleſs honours of the day, Walks over, and diſdains th' inglorious Prey,[…]

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

In soap making, a strong alkali called blank is used to react with fats.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English leye, lye, from Old English lēah, lēag (“lye”), from Proto-West Germanic *laugu, from Proto-Germanic *laugō, from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Loge, Looie (“lye”), Dutch loog (“lye”), German Low German Loge, Loje, Loog (“lye”), German Lauge (“lye”). Compare typologically Ancient Greek ῥύμμα (rhúmma) < ῥύπτω (rhúptō, “to cleanse, to wash”); Russian м́ыло (ḿylo) (a nomen instrumenti of мыть (mytʹ)).