turpentine
any of various oleoresins derived from coniferous trees, especially the longleaf pine, Pinus palustris, and yielding a volatile oil and a resin when distilled.
Also called Chian turpentine. an oleoresin exuded by the terebinth, Pistacia terebinthus.
to treat with turpentine; apply turpentine to.
to gather or take crude turpentine from (trees).
Origin of turpentine
1Other words from turpentine
- tur·pen·tin·ic [tur-puhn-tin-ik], /ˌtɜr pənˈtɪn ɪk/, tur·pen·tin·ous [tur-puhn-tin-uhs, ‐tahy-nuhs], /ˌtɜr pənˈtɪn əs, ‐ˈtaɪ nəs/, tur·pen·tin·y [tur-puhn-tahy-nee], /ˈtɜr pənˌtaɪ ni/, adjective
- un·tur·pen·tined, adjective
Words Nearby turpentine
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use turpentine in a sentence
Highsmith often said that her mother had told her that she’d tried to abort her by drinking turpentine.
Highsmith at 100: Literary legacy marred by racism | Kathi Wolfe | February 10, 2021 | Washington BladeIt tastes a little like turpentine, but loses this taste more and more the riper it gets.
A Woman's Journey Round the World | Ida PfeifferHe washed the cement floor with the hose, and while waiting for it to dry he rinsed his brushes in turpentine.
The Box-Car Children | Gertrude Chandler WarnerIn addition, dyes, wood turpentine, dry ice and various insecticides are produced in Virginia.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia | Dorothy M. TorpeyIf you put a little siccative de Harlem in it, or use any picture varnish thinned with turpentine, it will serve well enough.
The Painter in Oil | Daniel Burleigh Parkhurst
Spirits of turpentine rubbed in around the base of the horns, will arrest the disease in its incipient stages.
Domestic Animals | Richard L. Allen
British Dictionary definitions for turpentine
/ (ˈtɜːpənˌtaɪn) /
Also called: gum turpentine any of various viscous oleoresins obtained from various coniferous trees, esp from the longleaf pine, and used as the main source of commercial turpentine
a brownish-yellow sticky viscous oleoresin that exudes from the terebinth tree
Also called: oil of turpentine, spirits of turpentine a colourless flammable volatile liquid with a pungent odour, distilled from turpentine oleoresin. It is an essential oil containing a mixture of terpenes and is used as a solvent for paints and in medicine as a rubefacient and expectorant: Sometimes (esp Brit) shortened to: turps
Also called: turpentine substitute, white spirit (not in technical usage) any one of a number of thinners for paints and varnishes, consisting of fractions of petroleum: Related adjective: terebinthine
to treat or saturate with turpentine
to extract crude turpentine from (trees)
Origin of turpentine
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for turpentine
[ tûr′pən-tīn′ ]
A thin, easily vaporized oil that is distilled from the wood or resin of certain pine trees. It is used as a paint thinner and solvent. Chemical formula: C10H16.
The sticky mixture of resin and oil from which this oil is distilled.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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