Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hydrolytic \Hy`dro*lyt"ic\, a. [Hydro-, 1 + Gr. ? to loose.]
   (Chem.)
   Tending to remove or separate water; eliminating water.

         Hydrolytic agents, such as sulphuric acid or caustic
         alkali.                                  --Encyc. Brit.

   {Hydrolytic ferment} (Physiol. Chem.), a ferment, enzyme, or
      chemical ferment, which acts only in the presence of
      water, and which causes the substance acted upon to take
      up a molecule of water. Thus, diastase of malt, ptyalin of
      saliva, and boiling dilute sulphuric acid all convert
      starch by hydration into dextrin and sugar. Nearly all of
      the digestive ferments are hydrolytic in their action.