Soap Definition
sōp
soaped, soaping, soaps
noun
soaps
A substance used with water to produce suds for washing or cleaning: soaps are usually sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids, produced by the action of an alkali, as caustic soda or potash, on fats or oils.
Webster's New World
Any metallic salt of a fatty acid.
Webster's New World
Webster's New World
verb
soaped, soaping, soaps
To lather, scrub, etc. with soap.
Webster's New World
To softsoap; cajole.
American Heritage
To bribe.
American Heritage
(informal) To be discreet about (a topic).
Wiktionary
idiom
no soap
- Not possible or permissible.
- Unsuccessful; futile.
American Heritage
no soap
- the offer, idea, etc. is not acceptable
- to no avail
Webster's New World
Origin of Soap
-
From Middle English sope, sape, from Old English sāpe (“soap, salve"), from Proto-Germanic *saipÇ, from Proto-Indo-European *seyb-, *seyp- (“to pour out, drip, trickle, strain"). Cognate with Scots saip, sape (“soap"), West Frisian sjippe (“soap"), Dutch zeep (“soap"), Low German sepe (“soap"), German Seife (“soap"), Swedish sÃ¥pa (“soap"), Icelandic sápa (“soap"). Related also to Old English sāp (“amber, resin, pomade, unguent"), Latin sÄ“bum (“tallow, fat, grease"). See seep.
From Wiktionary
Middle English sope from Old English sāpe
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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