חָמֵץ (ḥāmaṣ) is
a Hebrew verb
meaning be sour. It appears
6 times
in 4 books of the Hebrew Bible
(Strong's H2556).
Also rendered
be red
be ruthless
to leaven
Same Hebrew root (TWOT 681)
Range of meaning (TWOT 681)be ruthless; be pungent, sour, fermented, harsh, dazzling; cruel, dyed, be grieved, leavened
Full entry: Brown-Driver-Briggs and Strong's
חמץverb: be ruthless
be ruthless—only Qal participle
Strong's H2556חָמֵץ: to be pungent; i.e. in taste (sour, i.e. literally fermented, or figuratively, harsh), in color (dazzling) KJV:cruel (man), dyed, be grieved, leavened.
Meanings: Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Hebrew Dictionary (1890), public domain, via the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project (CC BY 4.0). TWOT numbers for reference only.