Found 1 items, similar to mother of vinegar.
English → English (gcide) Definition: Mother of vinegar Vinegar \Vin"e*gar\, n. [OE. vinegre, F. vinaigre; vin wine (L. vinum) + aigre sour. See Wine, and Eager, a.] 1. A sour liquid used as a condiment, or as a preservative, and obtained by the spontaneous (acetous) fermentation, or by the artificial oxidation, of wine, cider, beer, or the like. [1913 Webster] Note: The characteristic sourness of vinegar is due to acetic acid, of which it contains from three to five per cent. Wine vinegar contains also tartaric acid, citric acid, etc. [1913 Webster] 2. Hence, anything sour; -- used also metaphorically. [1913 Webster] Here's the challenge: . . . I warrant there's vinegar and pepper in't. --Shak. [1913 Webster] Aromatic vinegar, strong acetic acid highly flavored with aromatic substances. Mother of vinegar. See 4th Mother. Radical vinegar, acetic acid. Thieves' vinegar. See under Thief. Vinegar eel (Zo["o]l.), a minute nematode worm (Leptodera oxophila , or Anguillula acetiglutinis), commonly found in great numbers in vinegar, sour paste, and other fermenting vegetable substances; -- called also vinegar worm . Vinegar lamp (Chem.), a fanciful name of an apparatus designed to oxidize alcohol to acetic acid by means of platinum. Vinegar plant. See 4th Mother. Vinegar tree (Bot.), the stag-horn sumac (Rhus typhina), whose acid berries have been used to intensify the sourness of vinegar. Wood vinegar. See under Wood. [1913 Webster]