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borax

noun

  1. salt of boron
  2. mineral
L58106 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈbɔː.ɹæks/ / /ˈbɔɹ.æks/

noun

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).

  1. 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.

  2. The sodium salt of boric acid, Na₂B₄O₇, either anhydrous or with 5 or 10 molecules of water of crystallization.
  3. 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.

verb

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).

  1. To treat with borax.