methylated spirits

American  

Or methylated spirit

noun

(usually used with a singular verb)

1. ethyl alcohol denatured with methyl alcohol for the purpose of preventing its use as an alcoholic beverage.

---

methylated spirits British  

noun

1. Also called: metho.   meths.  (functioning as singular or plural) alcohol that has been denatured by the addition of methanol and pyridine and a violet dye

---

Etymology

Origin of methylated spirits

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

methylated spirits

In addition to prescription medications, she used methylated spirits, tea tree oil, and even put toothpaste on the spots.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2020

Lush's cleaning staples are the same ones everybody's great-grandmother used: vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, methylated spirits, detergent, glycerine, milk.

From Time Magazine Archive

The spirit-flask contains enough for six separate charges of the lamp, and the cost of using methylated spirits at 4s. 6d. a gallon is not one penny a meal. 

From The Voyage Alone in the Yawl "Rob Roy" by MacGregor, John

Trench boots, trench coats, tins of solidified methylated spirits, all sorts of odds and ends, were picked up at the ordnance stores or at French shops which dealt specially in such things.

From A Padre in France by Birmingham, George A.

If the pens are intended to be lacquered they are placed in a solution of shellac dissolved in methylated spirits.

From The Story of the Invention of Steel Pens With a Description of the Manufacturing Process by Which They Are Produced by Bore, Henry