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kerosene

kerosene

41 3.8
A clear oil used as a fuel for lamps, heaters, and some engines
  • noun
  • /ˈkɛrəˌsin/
translation icon : queroseno
  • Refineries at the time took crude oil and extracted kerosene from it.
  • buy kerosene
  • kerosene prices
  • kerosene as a fuel

To me, a previous generation threw a lit match into a room filled with kerosene.

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Examples

  • There's 10,000 barrels of kerosene in that warehouse.

  • The old kerosene lamp provided enough light for us to read by.

  • - Hey, anybody got any kerosene?

  • Sam, look at this old kerosene lamp.

  • We men worked when we were little, selling kerosene, candy, and other things in the street.

    Academic text (1993)
  • People throughout Africa use small recycled kerosene lamps, created in many different forms.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Go get the other kerosene lantern.

  • I took the matches from him, lit the kerosene lamp, and turned the wick up high.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • We were mustered around a kerosene lantern, and names were called from a list.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The landlady showed Johanna where the kerosene can and extra wicks were kept.

    Fiction book (1992)

Synonyms

lamp oil
vskerosene
2 2.4

An oil that people burn in lamps and heaters

is a broader petroleum fuel also used in engines
paraffin
vskerosene
  • UK
1 6.2

A thin clear oil used as fuel in lamps and heaters

is mainly used as a fuel for lamps heaters and engines
paraffin oil
vskerosene
  • UK
4.2

A thin clear liquid used as fuel for lighting and heating, for example in lamps

is the American term for the same fuel
kero
vskerosene
  • Australian
9.9

An informal name for kerosene, a fuel for lamps and heaters

is the full neutral technical term rather than slang

Compounds

A lamp that burns kerosene to give light

A small heater that burns kerosene to warm a room

How Thick

asphalt
56 3.9
tar
65 4.1
maltha
  • Archaic
9.9
crude oil
  • Specialized
47 3.4
kerosene
41 3.8
gasoline
  • US
318 1.6

Surface Forms

kerosene singular
kerosenes plural

Etymology

Kerosene comes from the Greek word kēros meaning 'wax', because early lamp fuel looked and burned like liquid wax, and the ending -ene was added later as a chemical ending. So kerosene is a clear, burnable oil used in lamps and heaters, like a kind of liquid 'wax' you light for fuel.