castor oil

American  

noun

1. a colorless to pale yellow, viscid liquid, usually obtained from the castor bean by a pressing process: used as a lubricant, in the manufacture of certain soaps and creams, and in medicine chiefly as a cathartic.

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castor oil British  

noun

1. a colourless or yellow glutinous oil obtained from the seeds of the castor-oil plant and used as a fine lubricant and as a cathartic

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Etymology

Origin of castor oil

1740–50; castor (perhaps variant spelling of caster ) + oil; perhaps so called because of its purgative effect

Example Sentences

Castor oil is valuable in industrial lubricants, but expensive because only a few nations can grow the plants, either legally or environmentally.

From Science Daily • Apr. 30, 2024

Related: Castor oil helps fight against poverty in Madagascar Yet Madagascar rarely features on anyone’s list of urgent global causes.

From The Guardian • Nov. 1, 2015

The addition of peppermint water functioned as a means of enhancing the flavor of treatments like Castor oil.

From Scientific American • Aug. 13, 2012

“Baseball can choose to have their approval process move like molasses in winter or like Castor oil through a baby,” said Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp, a Chicago-based consulting firm.

From Washington Post • Nov. 3, 2011

Castor oil; one teaspoonful may be needed if the bowels have any fecal matter in them.

From Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Ritter, Thomas Jefferson