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banana oil
[ buh-nan-uh oil ]
noun
- Also called am·yl ac·e·tate [am, -il , as, -i-teyt],. a sweet-smelling liquid ester, C 7 H 14 O 2 , a mixture of isomers derived from amyl alcohol and having the characteristic odor of bananas: used chiefly as a paint solvent and in artificial fruit flavors; amyl acetate.
- Slang. insincere talk; nonsense.
banana oil
noun
- a solution of cellulose nitrate in pentyl acetate or a similar solvent, which has a banana-like smell
- a nontechnical name for pentyl acetate
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Word History and Origins
Origin of banana oil1
First recorded in 1925–30
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Idioms and Phrases
Nonsense, exaggerated flattery, as in I should be on television? Cut out the banana oil ! The precise analogy in this idiom is not clear, unless it is to the fact that banana oil, a paint solvent and artificial flavoring agent, has no relation to the fruit other than that it smells like it. Possibly it is a variation on snake oil , a term for quack medicine that was extended to mean nonsense. [1920s]Discover More
Example Sentences
If there's any perfume fitter for a lost soul than attar of banana oil, it hasn't been discovered.
From Project Gutenberg
But, after all, it was the banana oil the aluminum paint was mixed with that turned the trick.
From Project Gutenberg
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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