bleaching powder

noun Chemistry.

a white powder that decomposes on contact with water and has the characteristic odor of gaseous chlorine: regarded, when dry, as a mixed calcium hypochlorite-chloride, used as a commercial bleach for wood pulp, textiles, oils, and soaps, and in laundering as a decolorizer and disinfectant.
Also called chloride of lime, chlorinated lime, calcium oxychloride.

Origin of bleaching powder

First recorded in 1850–55

Words nearby bleaching powder

bleach, bleacher, bleacherite, bleachers, bleachery, bleaching powder, bleak, bleak house, blear, bleary, bleary-eyed

Example sentences from the Web for bleaching powder

British Dictionary definitions for bleaching powder

bleaching powder

noun

a white powder with the odour of chlorine, consisting of chlorinated calcium hydroxide with an approximate formula CaCl(OCl).4H 2 O. It is used in solution as a bleaching agent and disinfectant Also called: chloride of lime, chlorinated lime