borax

UK: /ˈbɔːræks/ US: /ˈbɔræks, -əks/ ,(bôr′aks, -əks, bōr′-)

Inflections of 'borax' (n):

boraxes

npl

boraces

npl

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

bo•rax¹ /ˈbɔræks, -əks/   n. [uncountable]

1. Chemistry white powder used as a cleansing agent.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

bo•rax¹  (bôr′aks, -əks, bōr′-), n., pl. bo•rax•es, bo•ra•ces 

(bôr′ə sēz′, bōr′-). 
1. Chemistry a white, water-soluble powder or crystals, hydrated sodium borate, Na₂B₄O₇·10H₂O, occurring naturally or obtained from naturally occurring borates;
   tincal: used as a flux, cleansing agent, in the manufacture of glass, porcelain, and enamel, and in tanning. Also called sodium borate, sodium pyroborate, sodium tetraborate. 

• Medieval Latin borax
• Middle French
• Middle Persian būrag; replacing Middle English boras
• Medieval Latin dialect, dialectal Arabic būraq
• 1350–1400

bo•rax²  (bôr′aks, -əks, bōr′-), n. 

1. Furniture cheap, showy, poorly made merchandise, esp. cheaply built furniture of an undistinguished or heterogeneous style.

• of uncertain origin, originally 1940–45, American.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

borax / ˈbɔːræks/ noun ( -raxes, -races / -rəˌsiːz/)

1. Also called: tincal a soluble readily fusible white mineral consisting of impure hydrated disodium tetraborate in monoclinic crystalline form, occurring in alkaline soils and salt deposits. Formula: Na₂B₄O₇.10H₂O

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French boras, from Medieval Latin borax, from Arabic būraq, from Persian būrah