neat's-foot oil

[neets-foot]

noun

1. a pale-yellow fixed oil made by boiling the feet and shinbones of cattle, used chiefly as a dressing for leather.

neat's-foot oil

noun

1. a yellow fixed oil obtained by boiling the feet and shinbones of cattle and used esp to dress leather

Word History and Origins

Origin of neat's-foot oil¹

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

Leather can be preserved for years by the use of saddle soap and neat's-foot oil, but once it becomes hard and cracked nothing will make it serviceable.

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These people remained here for some time, subsisting on shrimp salad, sea-moss farina, and neat's-foot oil.

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Before using, perfectly new equipment should in all cases be given a light application of neat's-foot oil; soap is unnecessary because the leather is clean.

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Let it receive as much neat's-foot oil as it will take.

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Behind it dangled from dusty pegs portions of leather harness, which all the neat's-foot oil of the military pharmacopœia could never again restore to softness or pliability.

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