drying agent
- noun
- Specialized
:
agente secante
- It is a good idea to rinse the drying agent three times with clean dry solvent, adding each of these rinses to the flask.
Examples
-
Magnesium sulfate is a drying agent, a drying agent.
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The addition of an antiseptic such as ethyl alcohol helps prevent itchiness and also serves as a drying agent.
Academic text (2006) -
So the drying agent must be applied immediately.
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- Straw seems to be the perfect drying agent.
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Then we apply gentian violet as a drying agent.
Academic text (2003) -
Highly volatile drying agent?
Fiction book (1995) -
Gentian violet is often used in a liberal fashion as a drying agent on granulation tissue.
Academic text (2001) -
It is a good idea to rinse the drying agent three times with clean, dry solvent, adding each of these rinses to the flask.
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Siccatives are important drying agents that speed up the drying time of paint.
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In the painting process, a good drying agent helps to remove moisture for a better finish.
Synonyms
23
7.5
A material that removes moisture from things or the air
1
8.2
A substance that absorbs moisture to keep things dry
A substance that helps things dry faster, for example paint
Antonyms
How Absorbent
- Specialized
1
5.8
- Specialized
1
4.0
- Specialized
66
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a substance that promotes drying' is directly derivable from combining 'dry' (to remove moisture) with 'agent' (a thing that causes an effect); the participial form 'drying' simply describes the action the agent performs. This compositional pattern is common across languages and follows standard English noun-noun/participle + noun formation, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
Drying agent comes from the words drying, meaning making something 'dry', and agent, meaning a helper. Think of a small packet of silica gel as a tiny helper that soaks up water from the air, so the phrase means a substance that removes moisture and makes things 'dry'.