1
a noun such as ‘soap’ that is usually uncountable but is also used with ‘a’ or ‘an’, or in the plural, to talk about different types of something. For example the noun ‘soap’ in ‘Wash your hands with soap and water’ is uncountable, while in ‘You should choose a mild soap’ and ‘Some soaps are very strongly perfumed’, ‘soap’ is countable. A mass noun is used in both these ways.
Synonyms and related words
Types and forms of nouns
ablative
abstract noun
collective noun