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Glite Dictionary
perboric acid

perboric acid

8.6
A white crystalline chemical used to bleach clothes and remove stains
  • noun
  • /ˌpɜrˈbɔrɪk ˈæsɪd/
  • Specialized
: ácido perbórico
  • Laundry detergents often contain perboric acid as an oxidizing agent.

Examples

  • The laboratory synthesized perboric acid to study its bleaching properties.

  • Researchers measured the reactivity of perboric acid in different chemical solutions.

  • The chemist used perboric acid in the laboratory.

  • Is perboric acid safe for household use?

  • Laundry detergents often contain perboric acid as an oxidizing agent.

  • The laboratory synthesized perboric acid to study its bleaching properties.

  • Researchers measured the reactivity of perboric acid in different chemical solutions.

Surface Forms

perboric acid singular
perboric acids plural

Morphology

perboric + acid

Although 'acid' is a familiar word, 'perboric' is a technical, non-independent morphological form not found in the learner dictionary and carries a specialised chemical meaning (an oxidising derivative of boric acid). A B1 learner who only knows common senses of 'per'/'boric' (or the preposition 'per') would not be able to derive this specific chemical sense, so the expression is not predictable from its parts.

Etymology

Perboric acid comes from the name boric acid with the part per-, which suggests 'more' or 'extra'. So the name hints that this is a form of boric acid with extra oxygen, and that extra oxygen helps it bleach things and give oxygen to other substances.