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Definition of "turpentine" []

  • A thin volatile essential oil, C10H16, obtained by steam distillation or other means from the wood or exudate of certain pine trees and used as a paint thinner, solvent, and medicinally as a liniment. Also called oil of turpentine, spirit of turpentine. (noun)
  • The sticky mixture of resin and volatile oil from which turpentine is distilled. (noun)
  • A brownish-yellow resinous liquid obtained from the terebinth. (noun)
  • To apply turpentine to or mix turpentine with. (verb-transitive)
  • To extract turpentine from (a tree). (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "turpentine" in a sentence
  • "We are dipped in turpentine, the film is wiped from our eyeballs, we really see what we are looking at (why do we rarely see?)."
  • "One reason, she spent weeks living in turpentine camps."
  • "... on the easel, a rectangular canvas receives an inspired stroke ... in the air the smell of turpentine is thick enough to taste."