Addict
|
Petroleum
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=petroleum
Quote:
pe·tro·le·um
n.
A thick, flammable, yellow-to-black mixture of gaseous, liquid, and solid hydrocarbons that occurs naturally beneath the earth's surface, can be separated into fractions including natural gas, gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, fuel and lubricating oils, paraffin wax, and asphalt and is used as raw material for a wide variety of derivative products.
petroleum
n : a dark oil consisting mainly of hydrocarbons [syn: crude oil, crude, coal oil, rock oil, fossil oil]
|
http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/o...ion=Search+OMD
Quote:
petroleum
Rock oil, mineral oil, or natural oil, a dark brown or greenish inflammable liquid, which, at certain points, exists in the upper strata of the earth, from whence it is pumped, or forced by pressure of the gas attending it. It consists of a complex mixture of various hydrocarbons, largely of the methane series, but may vary much in appearance, composition, and properties. It is refined by distillation, and the products include kerosene, benzine, gasoline, paraffin, etc. Petroleum spirit, a volatile liquid obtained in the distillation of crude petroleum at a temperature of 170 deg Fahr, or below. The term is rather loosely applied to a considerable range of products, including benzine and ligroin. The terms petroleum ether, and naphtha, are sometimes applied to the still more volatile products, including rhigolene, gasoline, cymogene, etc.
Origin: NL, fr. L. Petra a rock + oleum oil: cf. F. Petrole. Cf. Petrify, and Oil.
Source: Websters Dictionary
(01 Mar 1998)
|
|