mineral oil


noun
  1. a colorless, oily, almost tasteless, water-insoluble liquid, usually of either a standard light density (light mineral oil ) or a standard heavy density (heavy mineral oil ), consisting of mixtures of hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum by distillation: used chiefly as a lubricant, in the manufacture of cosmetics, and in medicine as a laxative.

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Origin of mineral oil

1
First recorded in 1795–1805

Words Nearby mineral oil

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use mineral oil in a sentence

  • The heat is so great that only a special high grade mineral oil will do.

    Farm Engines and How to Run Them | James H. Stephenson
  • They are then struck and oiled with heavy mineral oil and dried for stuffing.

    Animal Proteins | Hugh Garner Bennett
  • Another source of mineral oil is shale, such as is to be found in vast deposits in the south-east of Scotland.

British Dictionary definitions for mineral oil

mineral oil

noun
  1. British any oil of mineral origin, esp petroleum

  2. US and Canadian a colourless almost tasteless oily liquid obtained by petroleum distillation and used as a laxative: Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): liquid paraffin

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

Scientific definitions for mineral oil

mineral oil

  1. A colorless, odorless, tasteless oil distilled from petroleum. It is used as a lubricant and, in medicine, as a laxative.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.