lye C2 Topic:Materials & Substances US /laɪ/ UK /laɪ/ See IPA manual Freq #36934 Meanings 1 noun a strongly alkaline solution, traditionally made by leaching water through wood ashes The soap maker combined rendered fat with lye under carefully controlled conditions. 2 noun sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, especially when used for cleaning or making soap Protective gloves are essential when handling concentrated lye. 3 verb to treat or wash something with lye Workers lyed the grain before the next stage of processing. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a strongly alkaline... alkaline solution 2 noun · sodium hydroxide or... caustic sodacaustic potash 3 verb · to treat or wash something... alkalize Word family Forms lyes Derived forms lyedlyeing Related forms alkalisodium hydroxidepotassium hydroxidesoap Etymology From Middle English lye and Old English leag ("lye"), from a Germanic word associated with washing. Cognates include German Lauge and Dutch loog. Topics Materials & Substances External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # lye **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** noun, verb **IPA (US):** /laɪ/ **IPA (UK):** /laɪ/ **Frequency rank:** 36934 ## Meanings 1. a strongly alkaline solution, traditionally made by leaching water through wood ashes 2. sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide, especially when used for cleaning or making soap 3. to treat or wash something with lye ## Examples - The soap maker combined rendered fat with lye under carefully controlled conditions. - Protective gloves are essential when handling concentrated lye. - Workers lyed the grain before the next stage of processing. ## Synonyms - alkaline solution - caustic soda - caustic potash ## Derived Forms - lyed - lyeing ## Related Forms - alkali - sodium hydroxide - potassium hydroxide - soap ## Etymology From Middle English lye and Old English leag ("lye"), from a Germanic word associated with washing. Cognates include German Lauge and Dutch loog. ## Topics - Materials & Substances markdown