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train oil

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

1545–55; earlier trane < Dutch traan train oil, tear; cognate with German Träne tear
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for train oil

Historical Examples of train oil

  • Then I suppose they subsist on train-oil as well as codfish?

    The Land of Thor

    J. Ross Browne

  • Not for worlds would I undeceive the good fellow, not if this were train-oil.

    Old Junk

    H. M. Tomlinson

  • The train-oil and gunpowder were shoved out of sight in a minute.

    Wuthering Heights

    Emily Bronte

  • We cleaned the rifles thoroughly and rubbed them with train-oil.

    Farthest North

    Fridtjof Nansen

  • One by one the men in the tent were awakened, and the train-oil lamp was lit.

    A Man's Woman

    Frank Norris

British Dictionary definitions for train oil

train oil

noun
  1. oil obtained from the blubber of various marine animals, esp the whale
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Word Origin for train oil

C16: from earlier train or trane, from Middle Low German trān or Middle Dutch traen tear, exudation
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