Definition

1. Noun:
   • A toxic, colorless, crystalline organic acid: Oxalic acid is a chemical compound that occurs naturally in some plants. It is characterized by being poisonous, having no color, and forming crystal structures.
   • Found in oxalis and other plants: It is naturally present in plants of the genus Oxalis (like wood sorrel) as well as in other vegetables such as spinach and rhubarb.
   • Used as a bleach and rust remover and in chemical analysis: It has practical applications in removing stains (bleaching), dissolving rust from metals, and serving as a reagent in laboratory chemical analysis.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The high concentration of oxalic acid in rhubarb leaves makes them poisonous.
  • We used a solution of oxalic acid to clean the rust off the old tools.
  • In the lab, oxalic acid can be used to standardize solutions of potassium permanganate.

Advanced Usage

• "to neutralize oxalic acid": to make oxalic acid chemically inactive or safe, often by reacting it with a base like calcium.
  • Adding milk, which contains calcium, can help neutralize oxalic acid found in some foods.
• "oxalic acid dihydrate": the common, commercially available form of the acid which contains two water molecules per molecule of acid.
  • The experiment called for 5 grams of oxalic acid dihydrate.

Variants and Related Words

• Oxalate (n): A salt or ester of oxalic acid. Oxalates are often the form in which this acid is found in plants and kidney stones.
  • Kidney stones can sometimes be composed of calcium oxalate.
• Oxalis (n): A genus of plants, also known as wood sorrel, which contains oxalic acid.
  • The sour taste of oxalis comes from oxalic acid.

Synonyms

• Ethanedioic acid: The systematic IUPAC chemical name for oxalic acid.
• Wood bleach: A descriptive term referencing one of its common uses.

Related Phrases

• "content of oxalic acid": refers to the amount or concentration of the acid present in a substance.
  • The nutritional analysis listed the oxalic acid content of the spinach.
• "crystals of oxalic acid": describes its solid, crystalline physical form.
  • Under the microscope, the crystals of oxalic acid had a distinct shape.

Noun

1. a toxic colorless crystalline organic acid found in oxalis and other plants; used as a bleach and rust remover and in chemical analysis