naphtha
Other forms: naphthas
Naphtha is a flammable liquid made from distilling petroleum. It looks like gasoline. Naphtha is used to dilute heavy oil to help move it through pipelines, to make high-octane gas, to make lighter fluid, and even to clean metal.
This unusual-looking word refers to a dangerous substance: naphtha is a liquid hydrocarbon mixture that is extremely flammable and volatile. If you're around naphtha and you light a match, Kaboom! Naphtha is created by distilling petroleum, and it's a component of gasoline and kerosene. The main purpose of naphtha is as a solvent, which means it's used to dissolve other substances, which is why it can be used to clean metal. Without fossil fuels, we would have no naphtha.
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any of various volatile flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixtures; used chiefly as solventstype of:hydrocarbonan organic compound containing only carbon and hydrogendissolvent, dissolver, dissolving agent, resolvent, solventa liquid substance capable of dissolving other substances
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Vocabulary lists containing naphtha
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In the second book of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, Lyra and her new friend Will learn how to open windows into different worlds. They discover truths that will change their lives and the universe.
In the first volume of The Book of Dust, a companion trilogy to Pullman's His Dark Materials series, a boy named Malcolm and a barmaid named Alice attempt to keep baby Lyra safe from the cruel Gerard Bonneville.