{ Caus"tic (?), Caus"tic*al (?), }
a. [L. caustucs, Ge. ?, fr. ? to
burn. Cf. Calm, Ink.] 1.Capable of destroying the texture of anything or eating away
its substance by chemical action; burning; corrosive;
searing.
2.Severe; satirical; sharp; as, a
caustic remark.
Caustic curve(Optics), a curve
to which the ray of light, reflected or refracted by another
curve, are tangents, the reflecting or refracting curve and the
luminous point being in one plane. -- Caustic
lime. See under Lime. --
Caustic potash, Caustic soda(Chem.), the solid hydroxides potash, KOH, and soda,
NaOH, or solutions of the same. -- Caustic
silver, nitrate of silver, lunar caustic. --
Caustic surface(Optics), a surface
to which rays reflected or refracted by another surface are
tangents. Caustic curves and surfaces are called
catacaustic when formed by reflection, and
diacaustic when formed by refraction.