I. בֹּר noun masculine lye, potash, alkali used in smelting metals Isaiah 1:25 **read probably כַּכֻּר as in a furnace (Isa 48:10); there seems no evidence that 'lye' (i.e. water mixed with the burnt ashes of plants containing potash, used formerly for washing) was ever used in refining gold or silver: compare J. Napier^{Anc. Workers in Metal {1856}, 15, 20, 25} WAM in Smith^{DB ii. 368; Amer. Rev. Ed. (1871, vol, iii), 1939}. (see בֹּרִית).