glycolic acid

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A colorless crystalline compound, C₂H₄O₃, found in sugar beets, cane sugar, and unripe grapes that is used in leather dyeing and tanning and in pharmaceuticals, pesticides, adhesives, and plasticizers.

Wiktionary

1. n. chemistry the simplest alpha-hydroxy acid, hydroxy-acetic acid, found in sugar cane and unripe grapes; used in cosmetics etc

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. (Chem.) an organic acid, found naturally in unripe grapes and in the leaves of the wild grape (Ampelopsis quinquefolia), and produced artificially in many ways, as by the oxidation of glycol, -- whence its name. It is a sirupy, or white crystalline, substance, HO.CH2.CO2H, has the properties both of an alcohol and an acid, and is a type of hydroxy acids; -- called also hydroxyacetic acid.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a translucent crystalline compound found in sugar cane and sugar beets and unripe grapes