acrid, or acrid

[In Fr. acre; Sp., Port., and Ital. acre; fr. Lat. acer, fem. acris, neut. acre, gen it. acris.] 1. Lit. Sharp, pungent, piercing, hot, biting to the taste. Used of chemical substances, of plants, . the mariner, his blood inflamed With acrid salts. Cowper: Task , bk. 1. "Bitter and acrid differ only by the sharp particles of the first being involved in a greater quantity of oil than those of the last."- Arbuthnot On Aliments. 2. Fig .: Sharp, pungent, sarcastic. ( Used of a person's mind, of speech, writing , .) of a man whose body was worn by the constant workings of a restle and acrid mind."Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. xi.