Whale-oil definition

A yellowish oil obtained from whale blubber, formerly used in making soap and candles and as a lubricating oil and a fuel for lamps.
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Any of various oils and fats extracted from the blubber of whales and used in the manufacture of soap and lubricants (formerly as an illuminating oil).
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
whale-oil
Plural:
whale-oils

Whale-oil Sentence Examples

  • Tallow candles as a substitute for whale-oil had been introduced, and the British market was closed by a duty of £r8 a ton on oil; a bounty offered by the Massachusetts legislature (£5 on white and £ 3 on yellow or brown spermaceti, and £2 on whale-oil per ton) was of slight assistance.

  • Sometimes both whale and mineral oils are used, but in most cases the whale oil is omitted.

  • The most important whale-oil is sperm or spermaceti oil, yielded by the sperm-whales.

  • Whale-oil varies in colour from a bright honey yellow to a dark brown, according to the condition of the blubber from which it has been extracted.

  • When separated and pressed, this deposit is known as whale tallow, and the oil from which it is removed is distinguished as pressed whale-oil; this, owing to its limpidity, is sometimes passed as sperm-oil.

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