WATER SOFTENER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A substance (such as sodium chloride) that lessens the hardness of water by replacing calcium and magnesium ions with sodium ions and so gives the water more efficient sudsing power

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("water softener" is a kind of...):

softener (a substance added to another to make it less hard)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "water softener"):

zeolite (any of a family of glassy minerals analogous to feldspar containing hydrated aluminum silicates of calcium or sodium or potassium; formed in cavities in lava flows and in plutonic rocks)

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