soap
noun /səʊp/
/səʊp/
- [uncountable, countable] a substance that you use with water for washing your body
- Wash the affected area with soap and water.
- a bar/cake of soap
- soap bubbles
- Avoid using perfumed soaps on sensitive skin.
Extra ExamplesTopics Appearancea2- Clean the wound with mild antibacterial soap.
- I switched to liquid shower gel from bar soap.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- gentle
- mild
- perfumed
- …
- bar
- cake
- use
- wash (something) with
- powder
- bubble
- suds
- …
- soap and water
- [countable] (informal) a soap opera (= a story about the lives and problems of a group of people that is broadcast every day or several times a week on television or radio)
- soaps on TV
- She's a US soap star.
Culture soap operassoap operasSoap operas, also called soaps, are among the most popular television programmes. They are stories about the lives of ordinary people that are broadcast, usually in half-hour episodes, three times or more each week. Episodes broadcast during the week are often repeated in a single omnibus programme at the weekend. They are called soap operas because in the US they were first paid for by companies who made soap. Most soap operas have their own website and some people buy books about their favourite soap and visit the places where the stories are supposed to happen.Most soap operas describe the daily lives of a small group of people who live in the same street or town or who work in the same place such as a hospital. The most successful soaps reflect the worries and hopes of real people, though the central characters frequently have extreme personal problems in order to make the programmes more exciting. Some storylines (= themes in the story) deal with sensitive social issues, such as alcoholism and racism.In Britain soap operas are usually broadcast in the early evening. The longest-running soap opera in the world is The Archers, ‘an everyday story of country folk’, which began on BBC radio in the 1950s. The most popular of the television soaps are Coronation Street on ITV (first broadcast in 1960) and its main rival, EastEnders on the BBC. Other popular soaps include Emmerdale on ITV. Neighbours and Home and Away, both from Australia, are also popular in Britain. In the US, soap operas are also called daytime dramas. A few have been successful in the evenings, but most soaps are broadcast during the afternoon. Though soaps have a limited audience, the names of many of the ones that have been broadcast for a long time, such as Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Young and the Restless, are well known. Many people who watch soaps have one or two favourites which they try never to miss.
Word OriginOld English sāpe, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch zeep and German Seife. The verb dates from the mid 16th cent.