noun. Any of various plant glycosides that form soapy lathers when mixed and agitated with water, used in detergents, foaming agents, and emulsifiers.

noun. A glucoside (C₃₂H₅₄O₁₈) found in the root of Saponaria officinalis and many other plants. It is a powerful sternutatory.

noun. A general name applied to glucosides similar to saponin (see def. 1) which yield a foam or lather when the aqueous solution is shaken. Smilacin is a saponin. The poisonous saponins are called sapotoxins.

noun. A poisonous glucoside found in many plants, as in the root of soapwort (Saponaria), in the bark of soap bark (Quillaia), etc. It is extracted as a white amorphous powder, which occasions a soapy lather in solution, and produces a local anæsthesia. Formerly called also struthiin, quillaiin, senegin, polygalic acid, etc. By extension, any one of a group of related bodies of which saponin proper is the type.

noun. Any of various steroid glycosides found in plant tissues that dissolve in water to give a soapy froth.

noun. any of various plant glucosides that form soapy lathers when mixed and agitated with water; used in detergents and foaming agents and emulsifiers

"Licorice contains a host of ingredients including one called saponin which contains the chemical glycyrrhizin."