cleanser

English

Etymology

From Middle English clansere, clenser, clensere; equivalent to cleanse +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

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Noun

cleanser (plural cleansers)

1. Someone or something that cleanses, such as a detergent.

   Synonym: cleaner (sense 3)

   • 1598–1599, Thomas Bodley, item; quoted in “Bodley, and the Bodleian. In Four Parts. Part IV. The Life-Work Done.”, in Charles Dickens [Jr.], editor, All the Year Round: A Weekly Journal, volume XXIX, number 711, London, 1882 July 15, →OCLC, page 519:

     The Breeding of Worms in your Desks we cannot prevent, but for the moulding of the books, it may soon be remedied, if the Cleanser of the Library do his duty.

   • 2008 February 21, Anna Jane Grossman, “Of Course I Washed My Hair Last Year (I’m Almost Certain)”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     Lorraine Massey, a founder of Devachan, simply rinses and agitates her scalp with fingers (or uses a nonlathering cleanser like Devachan No-Poo).

   • 2023 December 6, Jessica DeFino, “Too Many Products Can Stress Out Your Skin. Here’s How to Scale Back.”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     Dr. Khorana added that this is especially true of cleansers that feature surfactants like sodium lauryl sulfate, as this class of ingredients can cause “dryness, irritation and eczema.”

Derived terms

• palate cleanser

Translations

something that cleanses

• Norwegian Bokmål: rengjøringsmiddel n

detergent — see detergent

References

• “cleanser”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “cleanser”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “cleanser”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• cleaners, recleans, sclarene