Definition of "alkali" []

• A carbonate or hydroxide of an alkali metal, the aqueous solution of which is bitter, slippery, caustic, and characteristically basic in reactions. (noun)
• Any of various soluble mineral salts found in natural water and arid soils. (noun)
• Alkali metal. (noun)
• A substance having highly basic properties; a strong base. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The state was achieved in alkali atom gases, in which the phenomenon can be studied in a very pure manner."
• "Around 1990 Wieman drew up guidelines for how BEC could be achieved in alkali atoms."
• "The name alkali metals is commonly applied to the family for the reason that the hydroxides of the most familiar members of the family, namely sodium and potassium, have long been called alkalis."