borax en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈbɔː.ɹæks/
- /ˈbɔɹ.æks/ (US)
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Etymology tree Middle Persian *bōragbor. Arabic بَوْرَق (bawraq)der. Medieval Latin boraxder. Anglo-Norman boreisbor. Middle English boras English borax From Middle English boras, from Anglo-Norman boreis, from Medieval Latin borax, baurach (“borax”), from Arabic بَوْرَق (bawraq), from Middle Persian bwlk' (bōrag), which yielded Persian بوره (bure).
Meanings
-
(uncountable, usually) A white or gray/grey crystalline salt, found in nature as a mineral, with a slight alkaline taste, used as a flux, in soldering metals, making enamels, fixing colors/colours on porcelain, and as a soap, etc.
“The best way to clean the machine is to put a pound of borax and a gallon of vinegar in the machine and run the longest, hottest cycle you have,” he says.
2025 March 13, Jillian Tracy, “Wash your laundry problems down the drain with these 18 expert-approved products”, in CNN:
- (uncountable, usually) The sodium salt of boric acid, Na₂B₄O₇, either anhydrous or with 5 or 10 molecules of water of crystallization.
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(attributive, sometimes, uncountable, usually) Cheap or tawdry furniture or other works of industrial design.
Furniture isn't made to last thirty years or longer because they took a survey and found that young homemakers like to throw their furniture out and bring in all new, color-coded borax every seven years.
1977, Harlan Ellison, Jeffty is Five:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| boraces | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| boraxes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
boron · borax bead test · boracic · poke borax · boraciferous · unboraxed · borise · borize · boracium
Hypernyms
substance · compound · stuff · borate
Relateds
Synonyms
Translations (43)
pt bórax (crystalline salt) · ro borax (crystalline salt) · jv bleng (crystalline salt) · es bórax (crystalline salt) · de Borax (crystalline salt) · hu bórax (crystalline salt) · ky бура (crystalline salt) · id bleng (crystalline salt) · fr borax (crystalline salt) · ro borat de sodiu (crystalline salt) · id cetitet (crystalline salt) · ja ホウ砂 (crystalline salt) · ga bórás ((chemistry) Na2B4O7) · es borraj (crystalline salt) · fi booraksi ((chemistry) Na2B4O7) · it borace (crystalline salt) · su pijer (crystalline salt) · my လက်ချား (crystalline salt) · fi booraksi (crystalline salt) · ja 硼砂 (crystalline salt) · ru бура́ (crystalline salt) · pl boraks (crystalline salt) · hy բորակ (crystalline salt) · tl pinse (crystalline salt) · ga bórás (crystalline salt) · fa بوره (crystalline salt) · id boraks (crystalline salt) · pl boraks ((chemistry) Na2B4O7) · sh boraks (crystalline salt) · tr boraks (crystalline salt) · hi सुहागा (crystalline salt) · id pijer (crystalline salt) · ace peuja (crystalline salt) · ca bòrax (crystalline salt) · et booraks (crystalline salt) · sq boraks (crystalline salt) · la santerna (crystalline salt) · ar بَوْرَق (crystalline salt) · io sodoborato (crystalline salt) · fr borax ((chemistry) Na2B4O7) · eo borakso (crystalline salt) · vi hàn the (crystalline salt) · jv cetitèt (crystalline salt)