| 释义 |
▪ I. soap, n.|səʊp|
Forms: α. 1–2, 4–5 sape, Sc. 5–6, 9 saip, 9 saep; 5 sepe, 9 north. seeap, syep. β. 3–8 sope, 5 swope, shope, soope, 5, 7 soppe, 6 sopp, soopp, souppe. γ. 6–7 soape, 7– soap.
[A word widely represented in the European languages. Within the Teutonic group the forms are OE. sápe, OFris. type *sêpe (WFris. sjippe, EFris. sêpe, NFris. sîp), MDu. seepe (Du. zeep), MLG. and LG. sêpe (hence Da. sæbe), OHG. seifa, seipha (MHG. seiffe, saiffe, etc., G. seife); the ON. and Icel. sápa (Norw. saapa, Sw. såpa) is app. from OE. The early Teut. *saipōn- is the source on the one hand of Finnish saip(p)io, saip(p)ua, Lapp. saipo, and on the other of L. sāpo (first mentioned by Pliny), whence It. sapone, F. savon, Sp. jabon, Pg. sabão, Roum. sapun, sapon, etc. Whether the word is of purely Teut. origin is doubtful; its occurrence in some of the Tartar languages may indicate that it was introduced by early trade from the East.]
I.
1. a. A substance formed by the combination of certain oils and fats with alkaline bases, and used for washing or cleansing purposes. Now usu. distinguished from detergent n.; soap is prepared from natural oils and fats and is precipitated by the ions (notably calcium) present in hard water.
αc1000Sax. Leechd. II. 76 Meng wiþ sote, sealt, teoro,..eald sape. Ibid. 124 Lyþre mid sapan. c1050Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 439 Lumentum, sape. 1371in York Minster Fabric Rolls (Surtees) 9 Et in sape empto 6d. c1400Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 265 Somme can with a pound of sape Gete him a kyrtelle and a cape. 1455in Charters, etc. Edinb. (1871) 80 Wyne, sape, irne, lynnyn clayth. 1500–20Dunbar Poems liv. 9 Scho schynes lyk ony saip. 1552Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 23 Suppoise thow wesche the self with saip. 1813Picken Poems II. 79 Nor saip nor water e'er it fan'. 1876Robinson Whitby Gloss. 165/1 Seeap, soap.
βa1225Ancr. R. 66 More noise he makeð to ȝeien his sope, þen a riche mercer al his deorewurðe ware. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 143 Sope aboute couentre & ire at gloucestre. 1339–40Ely Sacr. Rolls II. 92 In sope empt. pro lotura albarum. c1449Pecock Repr. i. xx. 127 Of bathing and of waisching with oyl and swope. 1499Cov. Corpus Chr. Plays (1902) 89 Paid for shope and gresse to the whyles j.d. 1515Sel. Cases Star Chamb. (Selden) II. 99 He bought Soopp, Tarre, Irne,..and Retailled the same. 1561T. Norton Calvin's Inst. iv. 158 As though oyle coulde not be wyped awaye..with sope. 1600Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 47 They make no sope in all the countrey, but..use to wash with lee made of ashes. 1673Ray Journ. Low C. 156 Heer is also made Sope not inferiour for goodness to that of Castile.
γ1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 45 Most part of them would not take Money, but onely Soap, or Tobacco, and chiefly Soap. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 249 Bologna is likewise celebrated for essences,..soap, and snuff. 1839Dickens Nich. Nick. vii, You'll always find a little bit of soap in the kitchen window. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 827/1 The blocks of rough soap are first cut into thin shavings. 1940J. H. Wigner Soap Manufacture i. 20 In the textile trades soap is largely used for removing the natural impurities from the fibre and detergent properties are the main consideration. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XII. 393/1 In ordinary usage the term soap specifies an alkali metal or substituted ammonium salt of a straight-chain carboxylic acid 10–18 carbon atoms in length, and the name detergent is given to synthetic materials of similar structure. 1972Materials & Technol. V. x. 295 In synthetic anionic detergents, the main weaknesses associated with the traditional carboxylate soaps, namely, precipitation in hard water and decomposition in acidic solutions, are avoided by the use of other hydrophilic groups in place of the carboxylate group.
Prov.1592Lodge Euphues Shadow G 3, Who washeth the Asses eares, looseth both his Sope and his labour. 1860Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xxiii, 'Twas waste of soap to lather an ass.
b. fig.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 53 Monie of þas wimmen..smurieð heom mid blanchet þet is þes deofles sape. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 6 With þe sope of sykenesse þat seketh wonder depe. 1725Bailey Erasm. Colloq. 570 Such as by the Lather of Tears, and Soap of Repentance,..have washed away their Pollutions. 1840Hood Kilmansegg, Christening x, Washing his hands with invisible soap, In imperceptible water.
c. In the slang phrase, how are you off for soap?
The early examples afford no clue as to the origin of the expression, and their date is against the view that the sense of ‘money’ (see below) was intended.
1834Marryat P. Simple iv, A young lady..looked at me very hard and said, ‘Well, Reefer, how are you off for soap?’ 1837Thackeray Ravenswing viii. 1886Baring-Gould Crt. Royal I. ii. 20 They..put their heads into his shop, and asked how he was off for soap.
d. slang. Flattery. Cf. soft soap n. 2.
1854D. G. Rossetti Let. 11 May (1965) I. 193, I heard from MacCrae who offers {pstlg}50 for the water-colour, with all manner of soap and sawder into the bargain. 1859in Slang Dict. 98. 1876 Diprose Laugh & Learn (Farmer), Flattery is the confectionery of the world. In polite society it goes by the name of soap. 1957W. Faulkner Town (1958) x. 149 ‘The pattern,’ Uncle Gavin said. ‘First the soap, then the threat, then the bribe.’
e. U.S. slang. Money; now esp. that used in bribery.
1860M. O'Connor Lines to Rich Young Lady iii. (Funk & W.), If thy father hath ‘the soap’, Do not wash your hands of me. 1892Nation 24 Nov. 385/3 This, combined with more or less ‘soap’, was undoubtedly instrumental in causing his defeat.
f. no soap: an announcement of refusal of a request or offer, failure in an attempt, etc.; ‘nothing doing’. slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
1926Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 11/2 No soap, can't talk business. 1929E. Wilson I thought of Daisy iii. 153 If he tries to cut in on you, don't letum—I'll just tellum, no soap! 1932J. T. Farrell Young Lonigan vi. 216 Studs said he'd take a dozen or two when Nate brought them around. Nate tried to collect in advance; but Studs was no soap for that. 1939W. Faulkner Wild Palms 42, I told him. Not that I was to meet you at a hotel. I just said, suppose I did. And he still said no soap. 1948A. N. Keith Three came Home iii. 72 We would..call across... ‘No-soap!’ or ‘Not to-night!’ 1957J. Kerouac On Road (1958) i. xiii. 86 Terry and I tried to find work at the drive-ins. It was no soap anywhere. 1977‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon vi. 93 ‘The police tried to trace the handkerchief, I take it?’ ‘They did, but no soap.’
g. not to know (someone) from a bar of soap: not to have the slightest acquaintance with. Austral. colloq.
1938Smith's Weekly 26 Nov. 23 (caption), I don't know you from a bar of soap. 1943K. Tennant Ride on Stranger xxv. 319 ‘Why doesn't she marry the child's father?’.. ‘It's my belief she doesn't know him from a bar of soap.’ 1970J. Cleary Helga's Web vii. 130 I've never met any of his—interests. Certainly not this girl. I dunno her from a bar of soap.
h. = soap opera 1 a.
1943N.Y. Times Mag. 28 Mar. 19 Within these specifications, there is a deal of shrewd craftsmanship in the preparation of the ‘soaps’. 1958New Statesman 12 Apr. 455/3 Pay-TV will lure whatever is good in television now and leave those who cannot afford to pay for programmes stuck with an unvaried diet of soap and corn. 1969A. Arent Laying on of Hands vi. 46, I was one of five writers doing a daytime soap. One script a week. 1974Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 20 Apr. 5a/2 Agnes..had landed a job dialoging soaps for well-known television writer Irna Phillips. 1978Amer. Poetry Rev. July/Aug. 19/3 If you turn on day-time T.V. you will see most of his actors playing rather similar roles in the soaps.
2. a. With distinguishing terms, denoting a particular make or kind of soap, as alkaline soap, arsenical soap, ball soap, black soap, hard soap, etc.; also soap of Alicant, lime, soda, etc.
See also Castile, soft soap, and curd, lead, marine, resin or rosin, soda, Spanish soap.
1703Art's Improv. I. 49 You may mix with your Gluten, either Milk, or Soap of *Alicant. 1842Penny Cycl. XXII. 171/1 White soda soap..in a less pure state,..is called Alicant, Venice, or Spanish soap.
1786Phil. Trans. LXXVI. 156 Then evaporating it, [I] obtained a true *alkaline soap.
1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting iii. 73, I..regretted much that I had no *arsenical soap to preserve the skin.
1728Chambers Cycl. s.v., *Ball-Soap, commonly used in the North, is made with Lyes from Ashes, and Tallow.
c1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 40 Ane oyntement made of *blakke sope and poudre of bole. 1618Breton Courtier & Countryman Wks. (Grosart) II. 14/2 Tell her we haue blacke Sope enough already. 1704Dict. Rust., etc. (1726) s.v., For black Soap, 'tis made with strong Lye..and Whale or Fish-Oil, commonly called Train-Oil.
1753Chambers' Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Brick, Some also mention..*brick-soap, made in oblong pieces.
1882F. Nightingale in Quain's Dict. Med. 1046 Wash hands and nails carefully with *carbolic soap.
1704Dict. Rust., etc. (1726) s.v., Soft soap, such as are the *common soap, so called, and black soap. c1840Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 434/1 Common soap is composed of any kind of oil..with fixed alkali.
1612tr. Benvenvto's Passenger i. i. 23 *French sope to scouer my hands.
1611Bible Malachi iii. 2 Like a refiners fire, and like *fullers sope. 1638Penit. Conf. (1657) 346 Whose drosse..is so much..as no Fullers sope can cleanse.
c1840Encycl. Metrop. (1845) VIII. 435 [Soft] soap from oleaginous seeds, called *green soaps.
14..in Walter of Henley's Husb. 49 Medell it with *harde sope or tarre. 1600Pory tr. Leo's Africa iii. 195 The inhabitants make great store of liquid sope, for they know not how to make hard sope. 1704Dict. Rust., etc. (1726) s.v., The other hard soap is made in the same manner. 1813Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 102 Fixed oil, in combination with soda, forms the finest kind of hard soap. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 1142 According to the practice of the United Kingdom, six or seven days are required to complete the formation of a pan of hard soap.
1884W. S. B. McLaren Spinning (ed. 2) 28 The lime..unites with the oil and tallow, forming what is called an insoluble *lime soap.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 1143 Soda which contains sulphurets is preferred for making the *mottled or *marbled soap.
1704Dict. Rust., etc. (1726) s.v., That known by the name of *perfumed Soap.
c1865Letheby in Circ. Sci. I. 329/2 The compounds of fatty acids with potash are called *potash-soaps.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 1149 The *scented soap..speedily consolidates.
1611–2Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 198 Twoe pound of *swete sope.
c1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula, etc. 76 Of which forseid [things] *white sope may euer more be necessary to a leche. 1539Elyot Castle Helthe 58 They be somtyme made..of white sope. 1725Family Dict. s.v., To make White Soap, take Two Hundred Pounds of Black Salt⁓wort [etc.]. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 812 The finest white soap grated small.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 1144 Of *yellow or rosin soap.
b. soap of glass, or glassmaker's soap (see quots.).
1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 409 A mineral, called the soap of glass,..is the oxide of a peculiar metal called manganese. 1895Bloxam's Chem. (ed. 8) 481 Manganese dioxide (glassmaker's soap) is often added as an oxidising agent.
c. rock soap, a variety of bole.
1883Encycl. Brit. XVI. 425 Magnesian Silicates... Bole. Earthy, in nests and veins... Stolpenite, Rock Soap, Plinthite..are varieties.
3. With a and pl. A kind of soap.
1562Turner Herbal ii. (1568) 113 The wild rape..serueth for scouring oyntmentes and sopes. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 115 It's used also in powders, sopes,..and suffumigations. 1712tr. Pomet's Hist. Drugs I. 158 This Soap is very scarce in France. 1744Berkeley Siris §58 Common soaps are compositions of lixivial salt and oil. 1806Culina 175 The yolk of an egg..is a natural soap, and in all jaundice cases, no food is equal to it. 1811A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) p. lx, Soaps are hydrates, water being always present in them as a constituent. 1842J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 84 It would bring to this country the manufacture of fine soaps.
II.
4. attrib. a. In misc. use, as soap bath, soap-bell (Sc.), soap business, soap-factory, soap-film, soap-froth, soap-lather, soap-pad, soap-pipe, soap-tablet, etc.
1843R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvii. 339 *Soap baths..always constituted the first steps of treatment in every form of eruption.
1720Ramsay Rise & Fall of Stocks 24 As little bairns frae winnocks hy Drap down *saip bells. 1862G. Wilson Religio Chem. 19 A soap-bell sails through it with impunity.
1635Laud Diary Wks. 1853 III. 223 The *soap business was..settled again upon the new corporation.
1861Eng. Cycl., Arts & Sci. VII. 636 Some of the *soap-factories of the present day.
1924R. M. Ogden tr. Koffka's Growth of Mind iii. 105 A *soap-film is produced upon a wire-frame..and upon it a little noose of thread is cast in whatever form it may take. 1976Sci. Amer. July 93/3 The area-minimizing principle alone is sufficient to account for the overall geometry of soap films and soap bubbles.
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. v. iii, But Towns are not built of *soap-froth.
1771Smollett Humph. Cl. I. 238 His face frothed up to the eyes with soap lather. 1832Carlyle Misc. (1857) III. 48 With artificial fictitious soap-lather.
1820J. Cleland Rise & Progr. Glasgow 87 An Act was made for encouraging *Soap manufactories.
1842Penny Cycl. XXII. 170/1 The *Soap Manufacture is one of considerable importance.
1958Listener 16 Oct. 627/1 Scour round the inside with a steel wool *soap-pad.
1956S. Beckett Malone Dies (1958) 21, I remember the *soap-pipe with which, as a child, I used to blow bubbles.
1866Treas. Bot. 952/2 Saponine, a vegetable *soap-principle.
1880J. Dunbar Pract. Paper-maker 54 *Soap size, made and used in the interior of Russia.
1920D. H. Lawrence Lost Girl iv. 52 Happiness is a sort of *soap-tablet—he won't be happy till he gets it.
1799Hull Advertiser 28 Dec. 2/3 Ten casks *soap tallow.
1842Penny Cycl. XXII. 170 *Soap Trade. 1887Encycl. Brit. XXII. 204/2 In England the soap trade did not exist till the 16th century.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 577 The roasted *soap-waste was then withdrawn.
1558Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. 41 Mingle it with the saied *Sope water. 1847W. C. L. Martin Ox 155/1 Injections..of soap⁓water and oil.
b. In the names of apparatus used in making soap, as soap-cauldron, soap copper, soap kettle, soap mill, etc.
1558Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. 19 b, It shall be good to set the saied cawdron..as *Sope cawdrons be set. 1790in Essex Rev. (1906) XV. 87 The sugar-houses and soap-cauldrons.
1863in Richardson & Watts Chem. Technol. I. 680 Any alkali..which may be introduced into the *soap copper.
1873Weale Dict. Arch. s.v., *Soap-engine, a machine upon which the slabs of soap are piled to be cross-cut into bars.
1857Miller Elem. Chem., Org. vi. §1. 372 It is then cleansed or transferred to the *soap frames to cool.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 660/2 Curb,..an inclined circular plate around the margin of a *soap or salt kettle.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 1145 The *soap-pans used in the United Kingdom are made of cast iron.
c. In the sense of ‘used for holding soap’, as soap basket, soap-case, soap chest, soap dish, soap tray.
1926–7Army & Navy Stores Catal. 122 Wire sponge and *soap basket. For hanging on bath, etc.—1/–. 1975New Yorker 17 Nov. 145/1 We found an assortment of brass soap baskets to hook over the side of the tub.
1844G. Dodd Textile Manuf. ii. 53 In all such machines, whether called ‘dye-becks’, ‘*soap-becks’, or others. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 260/1 A soap-beck contains soap-suds.
1895Meredith Amazing Marriage viii, He came back bearing his metal *soap-case.
1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. iii. iii. i, Likewise coffee-chests, *soap-chests.
1837Dickens Pickw. xlii, An old cracked basin, ewer and *soap-dish.
1851Mayhew London Lab. I. 368/1 A green and white chamber service.., with *soap trays and brush trays.
d. (in sense 1 h), soap fan, soap land, soap star, soap watcher.
1976National Observer (U.S.) 10 July 16/2 Real soap fans have a dozen or so fan magazines, newspapers, and newsletters.
1948Soapland: see soap opera 1 a. 1977Guardian Weekly 17 Apr. 18/1 People who resent the behaviour of a character she plays don't walk up and slap her, as has happened to more than one American soap star. 1978Times 29 Aug. 1/8 The dedicated soap watcher..can switch channels for a solid five hours..until, at 4.30 p.m...soap-land is closed for another day.
5. Comb.
a. With nouns denoting persons, as soap-grinder, soap-monger, soap-patentee, soap-projector, soap-seller, etc., or in names of appliances, as soap-cutter, soap-holder, soap-saver. Also soap-boiler, -maker.
(a)14..Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 687 Hic smigmator, a sop⁓seler. 1549Bale in Cheeke Hurt of Sedition (1641) Pref. a iv b, Some they sold to the Grociers and Sope-sellers. 1646(title), A Looking-Glasse for Sope-Patentees{ddd}making discovery of a new Project..propounded (by the Sope-Projectors) to the Parliament. 1648Gage West Ind. Table, The Sope-houses at Lambeth, with the Sope Patentee belonging to them. 1756C. Lucas Ess. Waters III. 337 Let the sope⁓mongers learn not to counteract their boasted agent. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 456 Lime is used by the soap-manufacturer to render soda caustic. 1881Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 77 Dry Soap Grinder. Soap Trimmer.
(b)1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §631 Space for soap-holders, brush-trays, &c. 1884Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 827/1 Soap Cutter, an apparatus for caking or barring soap. 1919T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 366/4 Wire soap saver 7 c. 1973Listener 25 Jan. 117/2 The soap-saver..was made like a diffuser-spoon, but bigger, with a basket of open wire-mesh.
b. With vbl. ns., as soap-barring, soap-cutting, etc. Chiefly in attrib. use.
1851Catal. Gt. Exhibition p. c, Soap-cutting Machine. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2232/2 Soap Barring and Caking Machine. Ibid. 2233/1 Soap-crutching Machine. 1899Daily News 23 May 10/2 Soap Stamping and Packing Departments.
c. Similative, as soap-like, soap-smooth adjs.
1858Mayne Expos. Lex. 1169/1 The offensive soap-like substance. 1866Treas. Bot. 952/2 Trees..possessing soap-like properties. 1949E. Pound Pisan Cantos lxxvi. 45 By the soap⁓smooth stone posts.
d. Instrumental, as soap-filled adj.
1970Which? May 149/2 The cheapest soap-filled pads cost nearly 2d each.
6. a. Special combs.: soap-ball, a piece of soap formed as a ball, now esp. by the admixture of starch; soap-cerate (see quots.); † soap-earth, soapstone; soap extract, -fat, -fish (see quots.); soap flakes pl., soap in the form of thin flakes for washing clothes, etc.; soap-house, a soap-boiler's premises; soap leaf, a leaf of soap (see leaf n.1 10 b); soap-lees, spent soap-lye; soap-liniment (see quots.); soap-lock U.S., a lock of hair made smooth by the application of soap; hence, one who wears such, a low fellow, a rough or rowdy; soap-lye, a caustic alkaline lye obtained by running water upon alternate layers of soda ash and quicklime, and used in soap-making; soapman Sc., a soap-maker; soap plaster, a healing-plaster chiefly composed of soap; soap powder (see quot. s.v. soap extract); also loosely, detergent in the form of a powder; † soap-scale, a kind of clay (see quot.); soap-stock, soapstock, a crude, partially saponified mixture of fatty acids formed as a by-product in the refining of natural fats; soap-test (see quot.); soap-work(s, a soap-manufactory.
1601Holland Pliny II. 420 Those *sope balls that are to polish the skin and to rid it from wrinkles. 1829Scott Doom Devorgoil iii. ii, My soap-ball is of the mild alkali made.
1852Royle Man. Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 540 Ceratum Saponis Compositum. Compound *Soap Cerate. a1860Wood & Bache Dispensatory U.S. (1865) 1044 Soap-cerate..is used in scrofulous swellings and other instances of chronic external inflammation. 1876Harley Royle's Man. Mat. Med. (ed. 6) 243 Soap Cerate Plaster. This is a mixture of lead, soap, and the acetates of lead and soda.
1696Phil. Trans. XIX. 228 There is a considerable natural curiosity in the Neighbourhood of Smyrna, called by the Franks *Soap-Earth. 1758Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 70 Near Smyrna there is a fine whitish soap-earth.
1887Encycl. Brit. XXII. 204/1 ‘Soap powders’ and ‘*soap extracts’ are simply preparations of alkalis.
1879Webster Suppl., *Soap-fat, the refuse of kitchens, used in making soap.
1876Goode Fishes of Bermudas 60 A ‘*Soap-fish’ also occurs, probably either Rhypticus saponaceus..or Promicropterus maculatus.
1926–7Army & Navy Stores Catal. 38/2 *Soap Flakes—lb., –/8. 1933‘G. Orwell’ Down & Out in Paris & London xii. 91 There are no soap-flakes, only the treacly soft soap. 1967N. Freeling Strike out where not Applicable 137 It was a little like a copywriter presenting an advertising campaign to a soapflakes manufacturer.
1648Gage West. Ind. 5 Of the *Sope-houses at Lambeth. 1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. i, Savonnerie,..a Sope-house, a Place where Soap is made. 1810Sporting Mag. XXXV. 80 The corner of the soap house. 1854Hull Improv. Act 33 Any candle-house..or soap-house.
1909Cent. Dict. Suppl., *Soap-leaf. 1925[see leaf n. 10 b]. 1978Times 4 Nov. 24/5 Good presents for adults: a book of soap leaves.
1746Langrish Exper. upon Brutes 19 Injecting too great a quantity of *Soap-lees. 1789Buchan Domest. Med. (1790) 327 The caustic alkali, or soap-lees, is the medicine chiefly in vogue at present for the stone. 1842Penny Cycl. XXII. 169/1 The nuisance of soap-lees waggons passing through London.
1852Royle Man. Mat. Med. (ed. 2) 540 Linimentum Saponis... *Soap Liniment... Stimulant Embrocation. A vehicle for Opium, &c. 1864Chambers's Encycl. VI. 141/2 Soap Liniment, or Opodeldoc, the constituents of which are soap, camphor, and spirits of rosemary.
1840Picayune (New Orleans) 30 Aug. 2/2 Howard..is described as..wearing moustaches and *soap⁓locks. 1842‘Uncle Sam’ Peculiarities I. 119 You are an incendiary, a robber by profession, a soap-lock and a loafer. 1848Bartlett Dict. Amer. 319 Soap-lock, a lock of hair made to lie smooth by soaping it. Hence also..a Rowdy or Loafer. 1854Marion Harland Alone xvi, Shaking..at the prospect of..the loss of your soap-locks. 1864T. L. Nichols 40 Yrs. Amer. Life I. 173 A German Jew, with..soaplocks that would have astonished the Bowery in the palmiest days of soaplockism.
1774T. Percival Ess. (1776) III. 144 The *soap ley is so caustic..that it can be taken only in the smallest quantity. 1857Miller Elem. Chem., Org. viii. 547 It is digested in an imperfect soap ley. 1883R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 311/1 The..production of crude glycerine from spent soap-lyes.
1813Picken Poems II. 79 In vain was fill'd the *saipman's pan.
1789Med. Comment. II. 344 The..applications were changed for a *soap plaister. 1876Harley Royle's Man. Mat. Med. (ed. 6) 243 Soap Plaster.
1865H. Mayhew Shops & Companies of London 199/1, I can always make quick work of my washing by using ‘Harper Twelvetrees’ Glycerine *Soap-Powder’, and it makes the clothes beautifully clean and white. 1964M. Drabble Garrick Year xii. 193 Putting in my second instalment of soap-powder. 1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 325 Some of the mark-up on soap powders..could be avoided.
1704Dict. Rust. (1726) s.v. Clay, Cowshot-Clay, or the *Soap⁓scale lying in Coal-mines.
1895J. Lewkowitsch tr. Benedikt's Chem. Analysis of Oils, Fats, Waxes xii. 632 (heading) Examination of the fatty matter (‘*soap stock’). 1924Myddleton & Barry Fats iii. 35 The recovery of oil from the soap-stock depends for its commercial success upon the ruling prices of the edible oil. 1972Materials & Technol. V. x. 279 [In soap-making] use is also made of by-product fatty materials such as soapstocks and curd oils.
1861Eng. Cycl., Arts & Sci. VII. 637 *Soap-test, a solution of white curd soap in proof spirit; it is used in ascertaining the amount of hardness of waters.
1649Sc. Acts, Chas. II (1872) VI. ii. 300/2 The preiudice whilk the decay of the *Sopeworkis has occasioned to the kingdome. 1695Ibid., Will. III (1822) IX. 491/2 The said Robert Douglas his Soap work. 1839Ure Dict. Arts 1143 Great waste of alkali..in many soap-works.
b. Forming names of plants or trees, or their products: soap-apple (see quots.); soap-bark, a vegetable principle obtained from certain trees, as the Quillaja Saponaria of Chile, the common soapwort, Saponaria officinalis, and allied species, and used as a substitute for soap; saponin; soap-bulb, the soap-plant; soap-fruit, = soapberry 1; soap-gentian U.S., soapwort gentian; soap-nut, = soapberry; also attrib.; soap-plant U.S., an American liliaceous plant, Chlorogalum pomeridianum, used as a detersive; also, the soapberry; soap-pod (see quots.); soap-root (see quot. 1866); soap-tree, one or other of various species of trees or plants (see later quots.), of which the roots, leaves, or fruits yield a substitute for soap; also attrib.; soap-weed, † (a) the soapwort, Saponaria officinalis; (b) a North American plant (see quots. 1884, 1890); soapwood, the timber-tree or shrub Clethra tinifolia, native to the West Indies; also, a North American plant (see quot. 1771).
1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 *Soap Apple, Sapindus. 1864Webster, Soap-plant, one of several plants used in the place of soap, as the Phalangium pomeridianum, a Californian plant... It is called also soap-apple and soap-tree.
1861Eng. Cycl., Arts & Sci. VII. 636 A substance called *soap bark was brought to Europe from some tropical country in 1859. 1866Treas. Bot. 952/2 Its bark, called Quillai or Soap-bark, is rough and dark coloured. 1883R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 139/1 An article..is brushed with a cold decoction of soap⁓bark.
1874Treas. Bot. Suppl. 1279/2 Chlorogalum pomeridianum... The bulbous root, when rubbed in water, makes a lather..: hence it is known as the *Soap-bulb.
1666J. Davies tr. Rochefort's Caribby Isles 48 One fruit..about the bigness of a small Plumb..is commonly called the *Soap-fruit.
1845–50A. H. Lincoln Lect. Bot. App. 105 Gentiana saponaria,..*Soap gentian.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Soap-nut, a name for the seed of the Mimosa abstergens. 1866Treas. Bot. 5/2 The pods of Acacia concinna are used in India like those of the soap-nut for washing the head. 1884Encycl. Brit. XVII. 665/1 Soap nuts are the fruits of various species of Sapindus, especially S. Saponaria, natives of tropical regions.
1847G. F. Ruxton Adv. Mexico xxv. 222 A barren rolling prairie..covered with the palmilla or *soap-plant. 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) 425 Soap-plant (Chlorogalum pomeridianum), a plant common in California and New Mexico. 1891Cent. Dict. s.v., Indian soap-plant,..the soapberry Sapindus acuminatus, and..the Chlorogalum.
1866Treas. Bot. 1068/1 *Soap-pods, the Chinese name of the pods of several species of Cæsalpinia. 1891Cent. Dict., Soapnut,..the fruit of..Acacia concinna... Also [called] soap-pod.
1846Lindley Veg. Kingd. 497 Vaccaria vulgaris..contains Saponine, as also does the Egyptian *Soap-root. 1866Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 793/1 The Egyptian Soap-root (Gypsophila struthium), and the Spanish Soap-root (G. Hispanica),..have been employed for washing from time immemorial.
1666J. Davies tr. Rochefort's Caribby Isles 48 There are two sorts of Trees..called the *Soap-trees from the vertue they have to whiten clothes. 1756P. Browne Jamaica 206 The Soap Tree [Sapindus]... The seed vessels of this plant are very detersive and acrid. 1859All Year Round No. 32. 127 In Chili there is a soap-tree called Quillaya saponaria.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 503 New shorn wool which is very soft, and not trimmed with *sope-weed. 1884Encycl. Brit. XVII. 401 Y[ucca] filamentosa, commonly called amole or soap-weed. 1890Gunter Miss Nobody iv, Bare of everything..but gemma grasses, soap weed, and small cacti.
1732Phil. Trans. XXXVII. 450 *Soap-wood. The Bark and Leaves of this Tree being bruised and mixed with Water produce a Lather. 1771R. F. Forster Flora Amer. Sept. 17 Soapwood, Rhexia virginica. 1864Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Ind. 787/2 Soapwood, Clethra tinifolia.
▪ II. soap, n.2 slang.|səʊp|
[Respelling, after soap n.1, of sope f. so(dium) Pe(ntothal) s.v. Pentothal n.]
Sodium pentothal, or a mixture of this and an amphetamine, used as a truth drug.
1975Observer (Colour Suppl.) 23 Nov. 25/4 Soap,..the principal ingredient in truth serum. 1980J. Gardner Garden of Weapons iii. xiv. 372 Soap—as the Service called it—would sometimes produce spectacular results: the so-called first truth drug. In pentathol veritas. 1983M. Hartland Down among Dead Men xv. 128 Dr. Berry..gave me a soap injection... It makes you semi-conscious and you talk without any inhibitions—you know, ‘the truth drug’. 1988‘R. Deacon’ Spyclopaedia 412 Soap, nickname for the truth drug, specially treated sodium pentathol.
▪ III. soap, v.|səʊp|
Also 7 sope, 9 Sc. saip, saep.
[f. soap n. Cf. WFris. sjipje, Du. zeepen, G. seifen, Da. sæbe, Sw. såpa.]
1. trans. To rub, smear, lather, or treat in some special way with soap. Also with up.
1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xxi. 58 b, After that hee hath well soaped and rubbed your bodie..wyth a purse of Stammin,..he washeth you with very cleare water. 1611Cotgr., Savonné, soped, or washed in sope. 1677Compl. Servant-Maid 65 If there be any dirty places soap them a little, then take a little hard brush and soap it well [etc.]. 1725Fam. Dict. s.v. Clear-Starching, Take your Lace and roll it.., and between every Roll soap it with Soap. 1771E. Haywood New Present for Maid 265 They [cambrics, etc.] should be..well soaped. Ibid., Linen soaped as above..will be freed of all stains. 1802Colman Poor Gent. i. i, Answer me,..Who have [= has] soap'd up and flower'd your numskull after such a fashion? 1860Rawlinson Herodotus ix. cx. IV. 473 This is the only day in all the year on which the king soaps his head. 1875F. J. Bird Dyer's Hand-bk. 50 The pieces..are finally washed and soaped.
2. slang. To address with smooth or flattering words; to flatter.
1853‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green i. x, The tailor and robe⁓maker..visibly ‘soaped’ our hero in what is understood to be the shop-sense of the word. 1865Dickens Dr. Marigold i, These Dear Jacks soap the people shameful, but we Cheap Jacks don't.
b. With over: (see quot.).
1857Slang Dict. 19 Soaped him over, humbugged him.
▪ IV. soap
dial. form of swop v. |