castor oil

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.

Origin of castor oil

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

Also called ricinus oil.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for castor oil

Historical Examples of castor oil

She gave it castor-oil, and it recovered, but has never sung since that time.
Harper's Young People, July 6, 1880
Various
Kiki (the castor-oil bean) is a kind of fruit sowed in furrows.
The Geography of Strabo, Volume III (of 3)
Strabo
They took ipecacuanha, castor-oil, or sulphate of soda, as if they enjoyed them.
Indo-China and Its Primitive People
Henry Baudesson
When I come back you must reward it with an anointing of tallow or castor-oil.
Letters of Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
In these larger European motors, castor-oil is used largely for lubrication.
Aviation Engines
Victor Wilfred Pag

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

castor oil in Medicine

castor oil

[kăs′tər]

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.