surgical spirit

British

noun

methylated spirit containing small amounts of oil of wintergreen and castor oil: used medically for sterilizing

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Perhaps when somebody was six weeks old, they were given an injection, and the memory of that injection was the smell of surgical spirit," he says.

From BBC • Dec. 15, 2025

Raducanu was hampered by blisters on her right foot against Vondrousova, later revealing she was bathing her feet in surgical spirit every day to overcome the problem.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2022

"My physio Will is bathing my feet in surgical spirit every day - it's definitely painful," Raducanu, who is scheduled to play in Stuttgart next week, told BBC Sport.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2022

If bathing her blistered feet in surgical spirit every day is what it takes, Emma Raducanu will do it as she bids to stop physical issues hampering her tennis.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2022

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023