petroleum ether

noun

a flammable, low-boiling hydrocarbon mixture produced by the fractional distillation of petroleum, used as a solvent.

Origin of petroleum ether

First recorded in 1865–70

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for petroleum ether

Historical Examples of petroleum ether

The acid crystallized from the alcohol is then recrystallized several times from petroleum-ether.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 447, July 26, 1884
Various

British Dictionary definitions for petroleum ether

petroleum ether

noun

a volatile mixture of the higher alkane hydrocarbons, obtained as a fraction of petroleum and used as a solvent

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