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Glite Dictionary
🧑‍🔬 Hair removal ⚡ Chemical breakdown
electrolysis

electrolysis

5 7.4
A way to remove unwanted hair by passing an electric current into the hair root
  • noun
  • /ɪˌlɛkˈtrɒlɪsɪs/
: electrólisis
  • I went to an electrolysis place monthly for two years, but it didn't help.
  • electrolysis to remove hair
  • get electrolysis

I mean, you can, you can go through procedures such as laser hair removal and or electrolysis.

Examples

  • Took my sister to the electrolysis place for a second opinion.

    I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007)

  • I've been trying to give him electrolysis treatment.

    Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)

  • I thought you had your electrolysis appointment this morning.

    BASEketball (1998)

  • At sixty dollars an hour, electrolysis was not a feasible solution.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • "Next I'm going to have electrolysis on my facial hair," Zoe said.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • I'm getting electrolysis.

    Human Nature (2001)

  • I was rich enough for electrolysis by this time, so I began the long, arduous process of having each inappropriate hair burned out of my body at the root.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • I have used electrolysis to remove hair from my chin.

  • Next, I'm going to have electrolysis on my facial hair to get rid of it.

  • In these cases, a dermatologist recommends electrolysis to permanently remove unwanted hair.

Synonyms

depilation
vselectrolysis
  • Specialized
1 8.2

To remove hair from the body or face

focuses on destroying hair with electric current rather than simple loss or removal
epilation
vselectrolysis
1 8.8

To remove hair from the skin, for example by waxing or shaving

uses electric current to destroy hair at the root as a specific technique

How Permanent

electrolysis
5 7.4
sugaring
  • Specialized
1 4.2
waxing
27 3.9
depilatory
  • Specialized
1 8.7
shaving
61 1.0

Surface Forms

electrolysis singular
electrolyses plural

Morphology

electrolysis = lysis (opaque) = electro + lysis

The form is clearly built from electro- + lysis, but the hair-removal sense is a specialized application rather than a meaning most learners can infer directly.

Etymology

The word electrolysis comes from electro- meaning 'electricity' and -lysis meaning 'to break' or 'loosen'. So electrolysis is like using electricity to 'break' the hair root, which is why it means permanent hair removal.