petroleum ether

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noun

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

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Origin of petroleum ether

First recorded in 1865–70

Words nearby petroleum ether

petrolatum, petrol bomb, petrolene, petrol engine, petroleum, petroleum ether, petroleum jelly, petrolhead, petrolic, petroliferous, Petrolina

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use petroleum ether in a sentence

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, primarily produces petroleum.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Jan. 4|PunditFact.com|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The petroleum industry has depicted fracking as a few antiseptic drills dug on peaceful farmland.
New York’s Conservative Fracking Ban|Jay Michaelson|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Due to its centrality, the Salt Lake field plays an outsized role in terms of strange petroleum events in the city.
The Fiery Underground Oil Pit Eating L.A.|Geoff Manaugh|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We would lack a human face as our symbol; we would exist in the ether of ideas with no concrete stake in the ground to tether us.
128 Years Old and Still a Looker: Happy Birthday to Lady Liberty|Elizabeth Mitchell|October 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Michael keeps his cool until he sees piles of Petroleum Coke on the banks of the Athabasca.
Our Trip to The Climate War's Ground Zero|Darren Aronofsky|September 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Their heads might have been turned upside-down, so absolutely did they tread upon blue ether.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
The metal is then removed, and washed successively with very dilute sodium hydroxid solution, alcohol, and ether.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
The model was first filled with inflammable materials such as shavings and large blocks of wood, over which petroleum was poured.
Asbestos|Robert H. Jones
Suddenly something cluttered up the airways—some sort of interference—and the mystery of the ether died away.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn|Margaret Penrose
It has the odour of thyme, is sparingly soluble in water, but very soluble in alcohol, ether and in alkaline solutions.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2|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