a. Any of a large class of compounds, including the hydroxides
and oxides of metals, having a bitter taste, a slippery
solution, the ability to turn litmus blue, and the ability
to react with acids to form salts. b. A molecular or ionic substance capable of
combining with a proton to form a new substance. c. A substance that provides
a pair of electrons for a covalent bond with an acid.
Excerpted from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third
Edition Copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version
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