Definition of Hard water

1. Noun. Water that contains mineral salts (as calcium and magnesium ions) that limit the formation of lather with soap.

Generic synonyms: H2o, Water
Antonyms: Soft Water

Definition of Hard water

1. Noun. (chemistry) water with a high concentration of dissolved minerals, especially calcium, making it difficult to lather with soap ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Hard water

1. Hard water is water which contains minerals like calcium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, bicarbonates, sulphates, or chlorides, because it has been exposed to rocks or rocky soils. Hard water can corrode, discolour, or deposit its minerals, in and around materials such as water pipes. (09 Oct 1997)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Hard Water

hard sore
hard space
hard start
hard steel
hard stop
hard surface
hard tarter
hard tick
hard time
hard times
hard tissue
hard to please(p)
hard tubercle
hard ulcer
hard up
hard water (current term)
hard wheat
hard wired
hard work
hard worker
hard yakka
hard yards
hardback
hardbacked
hardbacks
hardbag
hardbags
hardbake

Literary usage of Hard water

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Nature by Norman Lockyer (1877)
"And again, Liverpool and Birkenhead, both supplied with moderately hard water in the one, an old and densely-populated town with a site saturated with what ..."

2. The Practitioner by Gale Group, ProQuest Information and Learning Company (1893)
"... hard water.1 BY JM FOX, Medical Officer of Health for Mid-Cheshire. IT may not be without use that a few remarks should be made on the relative value of ..."

3. Chemistry by Henry Enfield Roscoe (1873)
"Let us see if we can make out why this is, and for this purpose we must try an experiment. 27. What makes hard water? EXPERIMENT 27. ..."

4. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1920)
"Using hard water in boilers is much more expensive than softening it, since on the average 1000 gallons of hard water will do SO cents worth of damage in ..."

5. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1851)
"In the case, however, of hard water, the action has been different. With comparatively few exceptions, water owes its hardness to the presence of sulphate ..."

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