1
: a salt or ester of sulfuric acid
2
: a divalent group or anion SO4 characteristic of sulfuric acid and the sulfates
Examples of sulfate in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Lee Billings, Scientific American, 26 July 2024
Like most of Tula’s products, this cream is also made without parabens, sulfates, mineral oil, and other common irritants.
—Neha Tandon, Peoplemag, 18 July 2024
Randy Zellers, Field & Stream, 10 Apr. 2023
Energizing Scalp Serum for its gentle, sulfate-free formula.
—Rebecca Deczynski, Health, 30 Jan. 2023
See all Example Sentences for sulfate 
Noun
The mineral’s presence in the veins, the rover’s scientists say, may mean that the olivine and the sulfate alike were transported into the rock by inhospitably hot flows of water—and that the leopard spots were formed through entirely abiotic high-temperature chemical reactions.
—Lee Billings, Scientific American, 26 July 2024
Like most of Tula’s products, this cream is also made without parabens, sulfates, mineral oil, and other common irritants.
—Neha Tandon, Peoplemag, 18 July 2024
Verb
When the battery overheats, the water in the sulfuric acid solution within its case will boil and escape, leaving dry lead plates behind, which sulfate and lose their capacity.
—Randy Zellers, Field & Stream, 10 Apr. 2023
Energizing Scalp Serum for its gentle, sulfate-free formula.
—Rebecca Deczynski, Health, 30 Jan. 2023
See all Example Sentences for sulfate
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sulfate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near sulfate
Cite this Entry
“Sulfate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sulfate. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
sulfate
2 of 2 transitive verb
variants
or chiefly British sulphate
sulfated or chiefly British sulphated; sulfating or chiefly British sulphating
: to treat or combine with sulfuric acid or a sulfate
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