cod-liver oil

American

[kod-liv-er] / ˈkɒdˌlɪv ər /

noun

a pale-yellow, fixed oil, extracted from the liver of the common cod or of allied species, used in medicine chiefly as a source of vitamins A and D.

cod-liver oil British

noun

an oil extracted from the livers of cod and related fish, rich in vitamins A and D and used to treat deficiency of these vitamins

"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 cod-liver oil

First recorded in 1605–15

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.

See Examples For:

cod-liver oil

Gabito came into the world lathered in cod-liver oil, his parents claimed, with two brains and the memory of an elephant.

From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2023

Piper had put on clothes she had soaked for a week in cod-liver oil, milk and eggs and walked into the New York City Subway at rush hour.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 12, 2019

Möller and his advertising team then launched a campaign to institutionalise the regular use of cod-liver oil, regardless of whether you were at risk of rickets or not.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 25, 2018

Fulmar has a very strong, fatty flavor, similar to that of cod-liver oil.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 11, 2018

Late in the afternoon there was talk of tonics and purgatives and cod-liver oil, but at that point I managed to rally and take some plain boiled chicken, averting such drastic management.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

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