acid
pronunciation
How to pronounce acid in British English:
UK [ˈæsɪd]
How to pronounce acid in American English:
US [ ˈæsɪd]
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- Noun:
- any of various water-soluble compounds having a sour taste and capable of turning litmus red and reacting with a base to form a salt
- street name for lysergic acid diethylamide
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- Adjective:
- harsh or corrosive in tone
- containing acid
Word Origin
- acid
- acid: [17] The original notion contained in the word acid is ‘pointedness’. In common with a wide range of other English words (for example acute, acne, edge, oxygen) it can be traced back ultimately to the Indo-European base *ak-, which meant ‘be pointed or sharp’. Among the Latin derivatives of this base was the adjective ācer ‘sharp’.From this was formed the verb acere ‘be sharp or sour’, and from this verb in turn the adjective acidus ‘sour’. The scientist Francis Bacon seems to have been the first to introduce it into English, in the early 17th century (though whether directly from Latin or from French acide is not clear). Its use as a noun, in the strict technical sense of a class of substances that react with alkalis or bases, developed during the 18th century.=> acacia, acne, acrid, acute, alacrity, ear, edge, oxygen
- acid (adj.)
- 1620s, "of the taste of vinegar," from French acide (16c.) or directly from Latin acidus "sour, sharp," adjective of state from acere "to be sour," from PIE root *ak- "sharp, pointed" (see acrid). Figurative use from 1775; applied to intense colors from 1916. Acid test is American English, 1892, from the frontier days, when gold was distinguished from similar metals by application of nitric acid. Acid rain is first recorded 1859 in reference to England.
- acid (n.)
- 1690s, from acid (adj.). Slang meaning "LSD-25" first recorded 1966 (see LSD). When I was on acid I would see things that looked like beams of light, and I would hear things that sounded an awful lot like car horns. [Mitch Hedberg, 1968-2005, U.S. stand-up comic] Acid rock (type played by or listen to by people using LSD) is also from 1966; acid house dance music style is 1988, probably from acid in the hallucinogenic sense + house "dance club DJ music style."
Synonym
acrid stringent scornful stinging peevish testy piercing malicious edged sharp stern harsh acute satirical bitter ill-tempered vicious snide severe crabbed ironical acrimonious derisive sarcastic petulant double-edged austere pungent spiteful virulent scathing caustic acerb trenchant keen vitriolic cutting astringent biting mordant acerbic sardonic cross touchy pricking
Example
- 1. The acid from the bacteria can decay your teeth .
- 2. The trouble is the sea then becomes an acid bath .
- 3. First , fluoride makes your tooth enamel stronger and less likely to suffer acid damage .
- 4. Or the domoic acid may help explain why they entered the marina .
- 5. Reflux drugs focus on neutralizing or reducing acid produced in the stomach .