Advertisement
Advertisement
mordant
[ mawr-dnt ]
adjective
- sharply caustic or sarcastic, as wit or a speaker; biting.
- having the property of fixing colors, as in dyeing.
noun
- a substance used in dyeing to fix the coloring matter, especially a metallic compound, as an oxide or hydroxide, that combines with the organic dye and forms an insoluble colored compound or lake in the fiber.
- an adhesive substance for binding gold or silver leaf to a surface.
- an acid or other corrosive substance used in etching to eat out the lines, areas, etc.
- Music. mordent.
verb (used with object)
- to impregnate or treat with a mordant.
mordant
/ ˈmɔːdənt /
adjective
- sarcastic or caustic
- having the properties of a mordant
- pungent
noun
- a substance used before the application of a dye, possessing the ability to fix colours in textiles, leather, etc See also lake 2
- an acid or other corrosive fluid used to etch lines on a printing plate
verb
- tr to treat (a fabric, yarn, etc) with a mordant
Derived Forms
- ˈmordantly, adverb
- ˈmordancy, noun
Other Words From
- mordant·ly adverb
- un·mordant adjective
- un·mordant·ly adverb
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of mordant1
Example Sentences
Remove the fabric from the mordant and place it in the dye bath.
This is your mordant liquid, which removes finishing chemicals from your fabric and makes the dye adhere better to the cloth.
Yet, it fit so well with the mordant tenor of the game that I felt no compulsion to try to better Curdin’s fate.
More than anything else he is cheery—mordant and ironic at times, but undauntedly optimistic.
Such seemingly effortless—and mordant—improvisation can be a marvel to behold.
Mischievous, more bite than bark in the sense that it was mordant with minimal rhetoric, Heaney was not genteel.
"Mordant" is the word I think I want to describe his conversation.
I like that the emotional lives of women are tinged with a kind of mordant humor for the most part.
In some cases the mordant is added to the dye liquid; in others the material is previously treated with it before being colored.
Lime is sometimes used as a mordant but the straws are usually first treated with kolis leaves.
The king sent him back the picture, mordant epigrams appeared in the journals, and Reynolds scoffed at him in his Discourses.
His mordant reply to the questioning pay-clerk was: "Yes, I am a mason."
The first act seemed gay and lively, with a sort of mordant raillery in it with which the audience was unfamiliar.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse