creosote
Americannoun
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an oily liquid having a burning taste and a penetrating odor, obtained by the distillation of coal and wood tar, used mainly as a preservative for wood and as an antiseptic.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a colourless or pale yellow liquid mixture with a burning taste and penetrating odour distilled from wood tar, esp from beechwood, contains creosol and other phenols, and is used as an antiseptic
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Also called: coal-tar creosote. a thick dark liquid mixture prepared from coal tar, containing phenols: used as a preservative for wood
verb
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A yellow or brown oily liquid obtained from coal tar and used as a wood preservative and disinfectant.
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A colorless to yellowish oily liquid containing phenols, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood tar, especially from the wood of a beech, and formerly used as an expectorant in treating chronic bronchitis.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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creosotesimple
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creosotessimple
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have creosotedperfect
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has creosotedperfect
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am creosotingprogressive
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are creosotingprogressive
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is creosotingprogressive
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have been creosotingperfect progressive
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has been creosotingperfect progressive
Past
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creosotedsimple
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had creosotedperfect
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was creosotingprogressive
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were creosotingprogressive
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had been creosotingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of creosote
< German Kreosote (1832) < Greek kreo-, combining form of kréas flesh + sōtēr savior, preserver (in reference to its antiseptic properties)
Vocabulary lists containing creosote
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:
I dream of lizards, dark skies, sand dunes and sunsets streaked in rose-mauve and smoky violet, the air heavy with the scent of wet creosote and campfire smoke.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2026
Perhaps the alarm bells should have started ringing when he began prescribing shampoo to treat a cold, creosote for toothache or suggested patients swallow their suppositories.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2025
“A professional chimney sweep can inspect your fireplace and chimney for any damage and clean out any soot or creosote buildup,” she says.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 24, 2023
The wood preservative creosote, which has been associated with an increased risk of contracting cancer, was used for more than 80 years at the site until the 1980s.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2023
Faint smell of salt and creosote coming in off the bay.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
From Idaho it gets trimmed poles of western red cedar, 25 to 35 ft. tall, creosotes them at its Chicago plant and sells them for $5 to $7.
From Time Magazine Archive
The hawks circled lazily in a bright, blue sky, the jackrabbits crouched in the shade of the creosotes.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
Beech-wood creosote alone should be used in medicine, as its composition renders it much more valuable than other creosotes.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6 "Coucy-le-Château" to "Crocodile" by Various
Removed were 8,592 creosoted pilings; 110,537 cubic yards of wood waste and contaminated sediment; and 56,500 square feet of derelict overwater structures.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 2, 2022
Its sleepers of creosoted beech, which were blamed for breathing difficulties, had been replaced by solid oak.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 2, 2010
The stucco front, the creosoted gate, the privet hedge, the green front door.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 2, 2010
It is miles and miles of barbed wire once charged with electricity and guarded by machine-gun towers built of creosoted pine logs.
From Time Magazine Archive
Abel blew his warm breath against the lock before opening Sommensen’s warehouse—a mildewed barn built of creosoted timbers, put up more than fifty years earlier.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
In 1994-95, Alan Shearer famously dealt with the pressure of a title race by creosoting his fence; Cantona jumped over a fence with a kung-fu kick.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 25, 2020
Olin branched out from shotgun shells, dynamite and rifles into batteries, Cellophane, fabricating metals, lumber, brass, creosoting, cigarette paper, polyethylene food bags and compressed-air coal-breaking equipment.
From Time Magazine Archive
Other big Koppers subsidiary is Koppers Gas & Coke, whose activities include such diverse jobs as supplying gas to Montreal and creosoting ties for U. S. railroads.
From Time Magazine Archive
A man of position and polish, Publisher Bingham now sits on the board of a bank, a railroad, a creosoting company.
From Time Magazine Archive
The most improved by-product ovens produce not only coke and gas, but coal-tar, pitch, ammonia, and creosoting oils, all extremely valuable and adding greatly to the value of the output of the ovens.
From Checking the Waste A Study in Conservation by Gregory, Mary Huston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
