Dictionary
so'dium hydrox'ide
Chem.
a white, deliquescent, water-soluble solid, NaOH, usually in the form of lumps, sticks, chips, or pellets, that upon solution in water generates heat: used chiefly in the manufacture of other chemicals, rayon, film, soap, as a laboratory reagent, and in medicine as a caustic. Also called
caustic soda, soda. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.