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train oil

American  

noun

  1. oil obtained from the blubber of whales or from seals, walruses, or other marine animals.


train oil British  

noun

  1. oil obtained from the blubber of various marine animals, esp the whale

"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

Etymology

Origin of train oil

1545–55; earlier trane < Dutch traan train oil, tear; cognate with German Träne tear

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.

See Examples For:

So I’m curious, since you have drilling experience: Do you think it’s easier to train oil drillers to be astronauts or to train astronauts to be drillers?

From The Verge Dec. 7, 2021

So, he took his winnings and formed a company to train oil and gas professionals in various aspects of the trade.

From Forbes Aug. 1, 2011

If the beast affected is full grown, administer one English pint of train oil, and smaller doses in proportion to the age.

From Young's Demonstrative Translation of Scientific Secrets by Daniel Young

Her entire take was as yet only four barrels of train oil!!

From Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume III (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. by Karl Ritter von Scherzer

The next operation was to shave them, and accordingly their faces were smeared over with a horrible mixture of shoemaker’s wax, train oil and soot, most ungently laid on with a coarse painter’s brush.

From Hair Breadth Escapes Perilous incidents in the lives of sailors and travelers in Japan, Cuba, East Indies, etc., etc. by T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur

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