acidulate, v.
(əˈsɪdjʊleɪt)
[f. L. acidul-us sourish (dim. of acid-us acid) + -ate3, as if repr. a L. *acidulā-re. Cf. mod.Fr. aciduler.]
To make somewhat acid or sour; to flavour with an acid. Also fig. of the temper. (Rare exc. in pa. pple.)
| 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 311 Decoctions of mealy substances acidulated. 1747 Wall in Phil. Trans. XLIV. 588, I acidulated the Liquors with the Vitriolic Acid. 1844 T. J. Graham Dom. Med. 91 [Vinegar] may be used to acidulate barley-water, or any other ordinary beverage of the patient. 1856 Macaulay Johnson (1860) 99 Garrick..could obtain from one morose cynic scarcely any compliment not acidulated with scorn. |