Macassar oil

American  

noun

1. an oil derived from materials said to be obtained from Macassar, formerly used as a hairdressing.

2. a similar oil or preparation for the hair.

---

Macassar oil British  

noun

1. an oily preparation formerly put on the hair to make it smooth and shiny

---

Etymology

Origin of Macassar oil

First recorded in 1800–10

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Macassar oil

My dear Monsieur Birotteau," said Vauquelin, "there are not two ounces of Macassar oil in all Europe.

From Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honoré de Balzac

Ah! he made no bones about it; he guessed our thoughts at the first word; he has given us the means of annihilating Macassar oil.

From Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau by Honoré de Balzac

Long, long, ye ringlets, on the soil   Of that fat cranium may ye flourish, With plenty of Macassar oil   Thro' many a year your growth to nourish!

From The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore Collected by Himself with Explanatory Notes by William Michael Rossetti

Artists cannot be advertised like Macassar oil or blacking, and they want it to the full as much; hence endless ingenuity must be practised in order to keep the popular attention awake.

From Men's Wives by William Makepeace Thackeray

And in spite of Macassar oil, and bear's oil, and other certain promoters of luxuriant, soft, and glossy tresses, her locks continued scanty, stringy, stiff, and disorderly.

From Pencil Sketches or, Outlines of Character and Manners by Eliza Leslie

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---