castor oil

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noun

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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Also called ricinus oil.

Origin of castor oil

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

Words nearby castor oil

cast one's lot with, castor, Castor and Pollux, castor bean, castoreum, castor oil, castor-oil plant, castor sugar, cast out, cast pearls before swine, castrate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for castor oil

The State Department found that with high oil prices, the tar sands would be mined for oil, pipeline or no.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Jan. 4|PunditFact.com|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Pulling oil from the tar sands is costly, even more so when you tack transportation costs on top.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Jan. 4|PunditFact.com|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The focus here was on how fast oil would come out of the Canadian fields.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Jan. 4|PunditFact.com|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Total oil production figures include crude oil, natural gas liquids, and other liquid energy products.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Jan. 4|PunditFact.com|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

On top of oil, the United States produces significantly more natural gas than Saudi Arabia.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Jan. 4|PunditFact.com|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
In pursuing his alchemical researches, he discovered Prussian blue, and the animal oil which bears his name.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
Movement to know that she was attired in appropriate costume—short frock, biped continuations and a mannish oil-skin hat.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
A very small amount may be present after ingestion of large quantities of cod-liver oil or other fats.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
Go carefully over the film with an oil-immersion lens, using a mechanical stage if available.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
The unindustrious pupil imagines that “p” represents 8, and not “f” or “v,” and translates 1845 into “To pour oil” .
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)

British Dictionary definitions for castor oil

castor oil

noun

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for castor oil

castor oil

[ kăs′tər ]

n.

A colorless or pale yellowish oil extracted from the seeds of the castor-oil plant, used pharmaceutically as a laxative and skin softener and industrially as a lubricant.

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castor oil

noun

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Origin of castor oil

Words nearby castor oil

Example sentences from the Web for castor oil

British Dictionary definitions for castor oil

noun

Medical definitions for castor oil

n.