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.
“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
Commercial whaling petered out in the second half of the 19th century because fossil fuels replaced whale oil.
From Slate • Aug. 25, 2021
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
Marble mermaids lit the way as Davos climbed, bowls of burning whale oil cradled in their arms.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
