caus·tic (kô
st
k)
adj.
1. Capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action.
2. Corrosive and bitingly trenchant; cutting. See Synonyms at sarcastic.
3. Causing a burning or stinging sensation, as from intense emotion: “Most of all, there is caustic shame for my own stupidity” Scott Turow.
n.
1. A caustic material or substance.
2. A hydroxide of a light metal.
3. The enveloping surface formed by light rays reflecting or refracting from a curved surface, especially one with spherical aberration.
[Middle English caustik, from Latin causticus, from Greek kaustikos, from kaustos, from kaiein, kau-, to burn.]
causti·cal·ly adv.
caus·tici·ty (kô-sts-t
) n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.