whale oil
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of whale oil
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50
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.
Some believed this clean-burning fuel might one day replace whale oil as America’s chief indoor lighting source.
From Barron's ● May 2, 2026
“It was a tinderbox,” Godfrey said, filled with steam-driven spinning machines that covered the floors with a combustible dust — in rooms lit by windows and candlelight, on machines lubricated by whale oil.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2022
Demand for whale oil dropped when petroleum, which had begun to supplant it around the mid-19th century, gained popularity.
From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2022
Palm oil consumption grew as competitors dropped away: first whale oil in the 1960s, then fats like tallow and lard.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2021
The moon had already set, but no light flickered in the whale oil lamps that lined High Street.
From "Fever 1793" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
