castor oil

American

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.

castor oil British

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

Etymology

Origin of castor oil

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

About one hour after the vomit, gave each one tablespoonful Castor oil.

From The Dog by Dinks

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023