detergent

noun
/dɪˈtɜːd͡ʒənt/

Any non-soap cleaning agent, especially a synthetic surfactant.

A kind of

cleansing agent

Kinds of detergent

laundry detergent
liquid detergent

Related words

detergentless
nondetergent
zwittergent
anionic detergent
cationic detergent
dish detergent
dishwasher detergent

Example sentences

“What brand of laundry detergent do you usually buy?”
Tatoeba · ddnktr · CC0

Word history

From Latin "dētergēns".

Where this comes from

This definition is adapted from “detergent” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.