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mordant

   Also found in: Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.04 sec.
mor·dant  (môrdnt)
adj.
1.
a. Bitingly sarcastic: mordant satire.
b. Incisive and trenchant: an inquisitor's mordant questioning.
2. Bitingly painful.
3. Serving to fix colors in dyeing.
n.
1. A reagent, such as tannic acid, that fixes dyes to cells, tissues, or textiles or other materials.
2. A corrosive substance, such as an acid, used in etching.
tr.v. mor·dant·ed, mor·dant·ing, mor·dants
To treat with a mordant.

[French, from Old French, present participle of mordre, to bite, from Vulgar Latin *mordere, from Latin mordre; see mer- in Indo-European roots.]

mordan·cy n.
mordant·ly adv.

mordant
Adjective
sarcastic or caustic: mordant wit
Noun
1. a substance used in dyeing to fix colours
2. an acid or other corrosive fluid used to etch lines on a printing plate [Latin mordere to bite]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.mordant - a substance used to treat leather or other materials before dyeing; aids in dyeing process
chrome alum - a violet-colored salt used in hide tanning and as a mordant in dyeing
antimony potassium tartrate, tartar emetic - a poisonous colorless salt used as a mordant and in medicine
coloring material, colour, colouring material, color - any material used for its color; "she used a different color for the trim"
sodium bichromate, sodium dichromate - a red-orange salt used as a mordant
Adj.1.mordant - harshly ironic or sinister; "black humor"; "a grim joke"; "grim laughter"; "fun ranging from slapstick clowning ... to savage mordant wit"
sarcastic - expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds
2.mordant - of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action
destructive - causing destruction or much damage; "a policy that is destructive to the economy"; "destructive criticism"

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"I quite agree," said Miss Lavish, who had several times tried to interrupt his mordant wit.
asked the Portuguese, in the same tone of mordant irony.
So vivid and mordant was the impression that I can live over again that slow descent of the station hill, the passing by the nurse-girl with the two babes, the sight of the old horse on his knees between the shafts, the cabman twisted across his seat, and the young man inside with his hand upon the open door in the very act of springing out.
 
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