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kerosene

American  
[ker-uh-seen, kar-, ker-uh-seen, kar-] / ˈkɛr əˌsin, ˈkær-, ˌkɛr əˈsin, ˌkær- /
Or kerosine

noun

  1. a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons obtained by distilling petroleum, bituminous shale, or the like, and widely used as a fuel, cleaning solvent, etc.

adjective

  1. using or fueled by kerosene.

    a kerosene lamp.
kerosene British  
/ ˈkɛrəˌsiːn /

noun

  1. Also called: paraffin.  a liquid mixture consisting mainly of alkane hydrocarbons with boiling points in the range 150°–300°C, used as an aircraft fuel, in domestic heaters, and as a solvent

  2. the general name for paraffin as a fuel for jet aircraft

"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
kerosene Scientific  
/ kĕr′ə-sēn′ /

  1. A thin, light-colored oil that is a mixture of hydrocarbons derived from petroleum. The hydrocarbons in kerosene contain between 11 and 12 carbon atoms. Kerosene is used as a fuel in lamps, home heaters and furnaces, and jet engines.

Usage

The spelling kerosine is now the preferred form in technical and industrial usage

Etymology

Origin of kerosene

1852; irregular < Greek kērós wax + -ene; formerly trademark

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.

Even one of the old boxes of National Geographic magazines that Eddie said we should recycle, the broken kerosene lantern we found, the kayak paddle.

From Literature

The biggest increase, over the 12 months to December, was a 6.3% increase in the price of fuel, after the cost of kerosene went up in the past three months.

From BBC

We each get a hammock and a kerosene lantern too.

From Literature

He cites the example of John D. Rockefeller, who happened to be the biggest producer of kerosene just when the automobile industry took off.

From MarketWatch

By the time his competitors got their oil out of the ground, Rockefeller owned every inch of infrastructure between the wellhead and the kerosene lamp.

From MarketWatch

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.