citronella oil

American  

noun

1. a light-yellowish pungent oil, distilled from citronella, used in the manufacture of liniment, perfume, and soap, and as an insect repellent.

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Etymology

Origin of citronella oil

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Lemongrass oil, cedarwood oil, citronella oil and peppermint oil are among the common ingredients.

From Washington Post • Aug. 8, 2022

They will also continue testing other potential repellent molecules, including the main component in citronella oil, which they found also activates Or31.

From Scientific American • Aug. 18, 2021

Those principally obtained from tropical shrubs and plants are citronella, oil of oranges and lemons, from the rind of the fruit oil of cinnamon and cloves, croton oil, &c.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

The tea-planting industry has, however, spread to the neighbourhood, and a great deal is done in digging plumbago and in growing grass for the distillation of citronella oil.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various

Unfortunately most of the remedies he suggested were limited to spraying of insecticides and pesticides such as lindane, malathion dichlorose, copper sulphate or citronella oil.

From Free from School by Alvares, Rahul