Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A natural grease formed from dried perspiration found in the fleece of sheep, formerly used as a source of potash.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The natural grease of wool, consisting of insoluble soapy matter combined with a soluble salt containing from 15 to 33 per cent. of potash, which may be extracted commercially from the wool-washings.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) A peculiar substance obtained from the wool of sheep, consisting largely of potash mixed with fatty and earthy matters. It is used as a source of potash and also for the manufacture of gas.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun organic chemistry, dated A substance obtained from the wool of sheep, consisting largely of potash mixed with fatty and earthy matters.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French, from suer, to sweat, from Latin sūdāre; see sweid- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French

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Examples

Comments

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  • Natural grease formed from dried perspiration found in the fleece of sheep, used as a source of potash.

    February 20, 2010

  • I undressed and laid my outer clothes near the fire as well. They produced the scorched odors of woods and suint that mixed with those of the priest.

    --Philippe Claudel, 2007, By a Slow River, p. 110

    August 6, 2010