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In general, soaps are of two classes, hard and soft. Calcium, magnesium, lead, etc., form soaps, but
they are insoluble and useless.
The purifying action of soap depends upon the fact that it is decomposed by a large quantity of water
into free alkali and an insoluble acid salt. The first of these takes away the fatty dirt on washing, and the
latter forms the soap lather which envelops the greasy matter and thus tends to remove it. Roscoe &
Schorlemmer. Castile soap, a fine-grained hard soap, white or mottled, made of olive oil and soda; — called also
Marseilles, or Venetian, soap. — Hard soap, any one of a great variety of soaps, of different ingredients
and color, which are hard and compact. All solid soaps are of this class. — Lead soap, an insoluble,
white, pliable soap made by saponifying an oil (olive oil) with lead oxide; — used externally in medicine.
Called also lead plaster, diachylon, etc. — Marine soap. See under Marine. — Pills of soap (Med.),
pills containing soap and opium. — Potash soap, any soap made with potash, esp. the soft soaps,
and a hard soap made from potash and castor oil. — Pumice soap, any hard soap charged with a
gritty powder, as silica, alumina, powdered pumice, etc., which assists mechanically in the removal of
dirt. — Resin soap, a yellow soap containing resin, — used in bleaching. — Silicated soap, a cheap
soap containing water glass — Soap bark. (Bot.) See Quillaia bark. — Soap bubble, a hollow
iridescent globe, formed by blowing a film of soap suds from a pipe; figuratively, something attractive, but
extremely unsubstantial.
This soap bubble of the metaphysicians. J. C. Shairp. — Soap cerate, a cerate formed of soap, olive oil, white wax, and the subacetate of lead, sometimes
used as an application to allay inflammation. — Soap fat, the refuse fat of kitchens, slaughter houses,
etc., used in making soap. — Soap liniment (Med.), a liniment containing soap, camphor, and alcohol.
— Soap nut, the hard kernel or seed of the fruit of the soapberry tree, — used for making beads,
buttons, etc. — Soap plant (Bot.), one of several plants used in the place of soap, as the Chlorogalum
pomeridianum, a California plant, the bulb of which, when stripped of its husk and rubbed on wet clothes,
makes a thick lather, and smells not unlike new brown soap. It is called also soap apple, soap bulb,
and soap weed. — Soap tree. (Bot.) Same as Soapberry tree. — Soda soap, a soap containing
a sodium salt. The soda soaps are all hard soaps. — Soft soap, a soap of a gray or brownish yellow
color, and of a slimy, jellylike consistence, made from potash or the lye from wood ashes. It is strongly
alkaline and often contains glycerin, and is used in scouring wood, in cleansing linen, in dyehouses,
etc. Figuratively, flattery; wheedling; blarney. [Colloq.] — Toilet soap, hard soap for the toilet, usually
colored and perfumed.
Soap
(Soap) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Soaped ; p. pr. & vb. n. Soaping.]
1. To rub or wash over with soap.
2. To flatter; to wheedle. [Slang]
Soapberry tree
(Soap"ber`ry tree`) (Bot.) Any tree of the genus Sapindus, esp. Sapindus saponaria,
the fleshy part of whose fruit is used instead of soap in washing linen; — also called soap tree.
Soapfish
(Soap"fish`) n. (Zoöl.) Any serranoid fish of the genus Rhypticus; — so called from the soapy
feeling of its skin.
Soapiness
(Soap"i*ness) n. Quality or state of being soapy.
Soaproot
(Soap"root`) n. (Bot.) A perennial herb (Gypsophila Struthium) the root of which is used in
Spain as a substitute for soap.
Soapstone
(Soap"stone`) n. See Steatite, and Talc.
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