: a white crystalline strong alkali Ca(OH)2 that is used especially to make mortar and plaster and to soften water
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebTo make tamales, corn kernels are steeped in water and calcium hydroxide (lye)—a process called nixtamalization—then rinsed, drained, and milled to be turned into masa, a nutritious and filling paste seasoned with salt and lard or oil. Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker, 1 July 2022 His creation allows air to pass through a warehouse filled with calcium hydroxide. Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 23 June 2022 It’s three ingredients: water and maíz and cal [calcium hydroxide]. Leslie Brenner, Bon Appétit, 29 Sep. 2021 For the better half of a decade, Sant’s research has focused on streamlining a process of combining carbon dioxide from factory flue gas streams with calcium hydroxide to form concrete. Ally Hirschlag, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 June 2021 What their research found is that a suspension of water and calcium hydroxide or magnesium hydroxide, which could be added into those pools, had the ability to stop acidification in its tracks. Sara Kiley Watson, Popular Science, 2 Nov. 2020 Bone is a dynamic, living organ, composed of long coils of a protein called collagen, stiffened by crystals of calcium hydroxide and phosphate—hydroxyapatite—to give the vertebrate body its framework. John J. Ross, WSJ, 30 Oct. 2020 The enlarged calcium carbonate pellets now get sent to the third and final stage: heating that separates them into pure CO2 gas and calcium hydroxide that can go back to stage two. Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 7 June 2018 Add in a little calcium hydroxide, and the disloyal potassium trades partners again. Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 7 June 2018 See More
Word History
First Known Use
1872, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
calcium hydroxide
noun
: a strong alkali Ca(OH)2 commonly sold in water solution or as an ingredient of bleaching powder see limewater, soda lime