Soal, n. [AS. sol mire. Cf. Sully.] A dirty pond. [Prov. Eng.]
Halliwell.
Soam (?), n. A chain by which a leading horse draws a plow. Knight.
Soap (?), n. [OE. sope, AS. spe; akin to D. zeep, G. seife, OHG. seifa,
Icel. spa, Sw. s&?;pa, Dan. s&?;be, and perhaps to AS. span to drip,
MHG. sfen, and L. sebum tallow. Cf. Saponaceous.] A substance which
dissolves in water, thus forming a lather, and is used as a cleansing
agent. Soap is produced by combining fats or oils with alkalies or
alkaline earths, usually by boiling, and consists of salts of sodium,
potassium, etc., with the fatty acids (oleic, stearic, palmitic, etc.).
See the Note below, and cf. Saponification. By extension, any compound
of similar composition or properties, whether used as a cleaning agent
or not.
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 (sodium silicate). -- 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 (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Soaped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Soaping.] 1.
To rub or wash over with soap.