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

Money, especially that which is used for bribery.

American Heritage

Soap opera.

Webster's New World

Some soaps are safer for our environment because they use natural ingredients and limit the amount of artificial chemicals typically found in soap.

YourDictionary

Synonyms:

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

(slang, dated) To flatter; to wheedle.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Synonyms:
lather
saponify

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

Other Word Forms of Soap

Noun

Singular:

soap

Plural:

soaps

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Soap

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