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Glite Dictionary
hydrofluoric acid

hydrofluoric acid

4 7.4
A dangerous chemical that eats away glass and can burn skin
  • noun
  • /ˌhaɪdroʊˈflʊərɪk ˈæsɪd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ácido fluorhídrico
  • Hydrofluoric acid (HF) causes a unique chemical burn. Much of the current treatment knowledge of HF burns is derived from case reports, small case series, animal studies, and anecdotal evidence.
  • hydrofluoric acid burn

And then they just put a wash of the, the hydrofluoric acid on it and it would eat away into it and etch it.

Examples

  • Super purity nitric acid, hydrogen peroxide, perchloric acid, and hydrofluoric acid were all purchased from Romil (Cambridge, UK).

    Academic text (2018)

  • Any water vapor in the salt will form hydrofluoric acid (HF), which is extremely corrosive.

    Blog text (32)

  • A review of hydrofluoric acid burn management.

    Academic text (2015)

  • And then they just put a wash of the, the hydrofluoric acid on it and it would eat away into it and etch it.

    Danny Jones

  • There's HF hydrofluoric acid is actually a mildly weak acid.

  • Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is an inorganic acid commonly used in many domestic and industrial settings.

    Academic text (2015)

  • LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) -- Finally, the world might find out if it's truly a bad idea to dissolve a body with hydrofluoric acid in a bathtub.

    Blog text (29)

  • There's so little matter to work with that scientists are loath to subject these precious specks to the horrors of organic analysis procedures, which usually involve soaking them in hydrofluoric acid.

    Academic text (2001)

  • High exposure to hydrofluoric acid can cause severe health issues, including burns and respiratory failure.

  • Environmentalists warn that hydrofluoric acid is hazardous and should be handled with extreme care in industrial settings.

Surface Forms

hydrofluoric acid singular
hydrofluoric acids plural

Morphology

hydrofluoric + acid

This is a technical chemical term whose modifier 'hydrofluoric' is built from specialized morphemes (hydro-, fluor-) that a B1 learner is unlikely to know; simply knowing 'acid' and the surface parts will not let them infer that it refers to hydrogen fluoride or its corrosive, poisonous properties. Although cognates exist in other languages, the meaning requires domain-specific chemistry knowledge rather than transparent composition, so it would be opaque to a typical B1 learner.

Etymology

Hydrofluoric acid is named from its parts: hydro- means 'water' and fluoric comes from the element 'fluorine'. When fluorine mixes with hydrogen in water it makes an acid that can 'eat' glass and skin, so the name tells you it is a dangerous watery acid.