oil
Other forms: oils; oiled; oiling
Oil is a liquid fat or fuel. You might dress your salad with olive oil and use motor oil in your car's engine; just don't confuse the two!
There's the oil you put in your car or use to oil a rusty lock — then there's the oil you heat to stir fry vegetables or whisk with vinegar to make salad dressing. Chemically, these oils have a lot in common, from their tendency to avoid water to their slipperiness to the ease with which they catch on fire. Still, you'd never want to toss a bowl of spaghetti with motor oil — stick to olive oil instead.
Definitions of oil
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a slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with watertypes:sassafras oiloil from root bark of sassafras trees; used in perfumery and as a disinfectantcalamus oilcarcinogenic oil from calamus root used as a perfumemustard oiloil obtained from mustard seeds and used in making soapcolza oil, rape oil, rapeseed oiledible light yellow to brown oil from rapeseed used also as a lubricant or illuminantsafflower oiloil from safflower seeds used as food as well as in medicines and paintshydnocarpus oiloil from seeds of trees of the genus Hydnocarpus especially Hydnocarpus wightiana (Hydnocarpus laurifolia)cohune fat, cohune oil, cohune-nut oilsemisolid fat from nuts of the cohune palm; used in cooking and soap makingalmond oil, expressed almond oil, sweet almond oilpale yellow fatty oil expressed from sweet or bitter almondshyssop oilused chiefly in liqueursspike lavender oil, spike oilpale yellow essential oil obtained from spike lavender used in scenting soaps and cosmeticspennyroyal oiloil from European pennyroyal having an odor like mint; used chiefly in soapscroton oilviscid acrid brownish-yellow oil from the seeds of Croton tiglium having a violent cathartic actionanimal oilany oil obtained from animal substancescamphor oiloil distilled from camphor resinessential oil, volatile oilan oil having the odor or flavor of the plant from which it comes; used in perfume and flavoringsmineral oila distillate of petroleum (especially one used medicinally as a laxative or stool softener)motor oiloil used to lubricate the moving parts of a motorfusel oila mixture of amyl alcohols and propanol and butanol formed from distillation of fermented liquorsstand oila thick oil comprised of linseed, tung, or soya oils which have been heated to over 300 Cneroli oilan odoriferous yellow oil found in orange flowers and used in perfumery and as a flavoringtall oilan oil derived from wood pulp and used in making soaps or lubricantsshale oiloil extracted from oil shale by heatingflaxseed oil, linseed oila drying oil extracted from flax seed and used in making such things as oil paintschaulmoogra oilan oil from chaulmoogra trees; used in treatment of skin diseases and leprosylemon grass, lemongrass, lemongrass oilan aromatic oil that smells like lemon and is widely used in Asian cooking and in perfumes and medicinesilang-ilangoil distilled from flowers of the ilang-ilang tree; used in perfumerybitter almond oilpale yellow essential oil obtained from bitter almonds by distillation from almond cake or mealdrying oilan oil that hardens in air due to oxidation and is often used as a paint or varnish baseaxle greasea thick heavy grease used to lubricate axlesblubberan insulating layer of fat under the skin of whales and other large marine mammals; used as a source of oilDippel's oil, bone oildark-colored ill-smelling oil obtained by carbonizing bone; used especially in sheep dips and in denaturing alcoholbone oilthe liquid portion of bone fat; used as a lubricant and in leather manufacturecod liver oil, cod-liver oilan oil obtained from the livers of cod and similar fishes; taken orally as a source of vitamins A and Dlanolin, wool fat, wool greasea yellow viscous animal oil extracted from wool; a mixture of fatty acids and esters; used in some ointments and cosmeticsacylglycerol, glyceridean ester of glycerol and fatty acids that occurs naturally as fats and fatty oilsgoose greasegrease derived from geesecostus oila yellow volatile essential oil obtained from costusroot; used in perfumeseucalyptus oilan essential oil obtained from the leaves of eucalyptsoil of turpentine, spirit of turpentine, turpentine, turpsvolatile liquid distilled from turpentine oleoresin; used as paint thinner and solvent and medicinallyabsinthe oil, wormwood oila dark bitter oil obtained from wormwood leaves; flavors absinthe liqueurslinaloola colorless fragrant liquid found in many essential oilshalibut-liver oila fatty oil from halibut livers that is used as a source of vitamin Alard oiloil consisting chiefly of olein that is expressed from lard and used especially as a lubricant, cutting oil or illuminantmenhaden oila fatty oil obtained from the menhaden fish and used in paint and ink and in treating leatherneat's-foot oila pale yellow oil made from the feet and legs of cattle; used as a dressing for leathergas oilan oil formed through distillation of petroleum of intermediate boiling range and viscosityoleo oilobtained from beef fat; used in making margarine and soap and in lubricationporpoise oila yellow fatty oil obtained from porpoises and used as a fine lubricantdolphin oilan unsaturated fatty oil obtained from dolphins and used as a fine lubricantsalmon oila fatty oil obtained from the wastes in canning salmon; used in making soap and dressing leathersardine oiloil obtained from sardines and used chiefly as a lubricant and in soapseal oila pale yellow to red-brown fatty oil obtained from seal blubber; used in making soap and dressing leather and as a lubricantshark oil, shark-liver oila fatty yellow to brown oil obtained from the livers of sharks; used for dressing leather and as a source of vitamin Asperm oilan animal oil found in the blubber of the sperm whaletallowobtained from suet and used in making soap, candles and lubricantstallow oilan animal oil obtained by pressing tallow; used as a lubricanttrain oil, whale oila white to brown oil obtained from whale blubber; formerly used as an illuminantwool oilany oil used to oil wool before spinning
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any of a group of liquid edible fats that are obtained from plantssynonyms: vegetable oiltypes:cooking oilany of numerous vegetable oils used in cookingsweet oilmild vegetable oil when used as food; especially olive or edible rape oilcorn oiloil from the germs of corn grainscottonseed oiledible oil pressed from cottonseedsolive oiloil from olivespalm oiloil from nuts of oil palms especially the African oil palmsalad oilany of several edible vegetable oils that can be used in salad dressingssafflower oiloil from seeds of the safflower plantsesame oiloil obtained from sesame seedswalnut oiloil from walnutsmadia oilused as a substitute for olive oildrying oilan oil that hardens in air due to oxidation and is often used as a paint or varnish basetype of:edible fatoily or greasy matter making up the bulk of fatty tissue in animals and in seeds and other plant tissue
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a dark oil consisting mainly of hydrocarbonssynonyms: crude, crude oil, fossil oil, petroleum, rock oiltypes:type of:fossil fuelfuel consisting of the remains of organisms preserved in rocks in the earth's crust with high carbon and hydrogen content
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oil paint containing pigment that is used by an artistsynonyms: oil color, oil colourtype of:oil paintpaint in which a drying oil is the vehicle
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cover with oil, as if by rubbing“oil the wooden surface”type of:coverprovide with a covering or cause to be covered
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administer an oil or ointment to ; often in a religious ceremony of blessing
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