hydrochloric acid

plural hydrochloric acids

1. countableuncountablechemistryA strong acid made by dissolving the gas hydrogen chloride in water. It reacts with alkalis, bases and many metals to form chlorides; it has many industrial applications.

   Near-synonyms: gastric acid, stomach acid, gastric juice (which is mostly hydrochloric acid)

   2 more examples

   If not sufficiently purified, a little hydrochloric or oxalic acid, or caustic potash may be put in the water, according as the stains are from grease or from ink.

   1880, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, page 92

   In the case of nitric acid, however, the employment of the aræometer introduces far greater errors than when it is used for sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and in most other cases, as the concentrated nitric acids as a rule always contain nitrogen tetroxide in solution, the quantity being seldom less than 1 per cent., but more generally several per cent., which makes its strength when taken with the aræometer seem greater than it actually is.

   1905, Georg Lunge, Alfred Isaac Cohn, Techno‐Chemical Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, pages 57–58

   Synonyms: mul:E507, muriatic acid, spirit of salt, spirits of salts, swimming pool acid, gastric acid, stomach acid, gastric juice