Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Lacking soap; free from soap; hence, unwashed.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Without soap.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

soap +‎ -less

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Examples

  • Not only does the low pH make them "soapless" and gentler on skin, but these little wonders take care of the common winter dryness plague.

    Cool Hunting 2010

  • Cold, soapless showers or colloidal oatmeal baths (Aveeno) can soothe the itchy skin.

    Summertime Skin Irritants 2010

  • R+L had a soapless bath and the water was used for the paddling pool, with lots of salt in so that it will take longer to go icky

    The water is wide, I cannot swim oooooooover ailbhe 2006

  • And I have my little soapless solution that I carry around with me.

    CNN Transcript Jul 23, 2002 2002

  • He scrubbed the fry pan with a worn, soapless steel pad.

    Brannon's Choice Browne, Richard W 2001

  • His infant brother Peter yelled viciously in the big gray-stone house, and the great sawmill snarled half a mile away, while he waited patiently for the soapless water to remove all plantain stains from his brown legs, the cause of this immersion.

    The Best Short Stories of 1917 and the Yearbook of the American Short Story Various 1915

  • Naked to the waist, they knelt like washerwomen, and rubbed the soapless linen against smooth stones, or wrung it wrathfully, or turning, spread it, grey-white, upon the grass to dry.

    The Long Roll Mary Johnston 1903

  • "Thank-ye, old boy," said Dartmore, putting on his glove before he accepted the offered hand of his new friend, which, though it was tendered with great grace and dignity, was of a marvellously dingy and soapless aspect.

    Pelham — Volume 04 Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • "Thank-ye, old boy," said Dartmore, putting on his glove before he accepted the offered hand of his new friend, which, though it was tendered with great grace and dignity, was of a marvellously dingy and soapless aspect.

    Pelham — Complete Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton 1838

  • Other experts advise using a soapless cleanser or a gentle soap that's free of fragrance, deodorant or antibacterial additives, as these are drying.

    The Seattle Times 2011

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