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Glite Dictionary
spike oil

spike oil

9.8
A pale yellow oil from spike lavender used to scent soap and beauty products
  • noun
  • /spaɪk ɔɪl/
translation icon : aceite de spike
  • The perfumer used spike oil to enhance the fragrance of her latest lotion.

Examples

  • The spike oil added a delightful lavender scent to the handmade soap.

  • He blended the spike oil in the agate mortar, giving the room a pleasant smell of lavender.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • For her homemade candles, she chose spike oil for its soothing aroma.

Synonyms

spike lavender oil
vsspike oil
8.3

An oil that has a strong lavender smell and scents soaps and cosmetics

has identical meaning but uses a briefer name

How Scented

rose oil
1 3.7
essential oil
14 3.7
bath oil
3 2.5
spike oil
9.8
almond oil
1 3.2

Surface Forms

spike oil singular
spike oils plural

Morphology

spike + oil

The noun phrase 'spike oil' is compositionally built from 'spike' (a plant stalk, here referring to spike lavender) + 'oil' and thus denotes oil obtained from the spike plant. This follows the common and cross-linguistic pattern 'X oil' = oil from X, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would be able to infer the meaning despite the term's specialized usage.

Etymology

The noun spike oil comes from oil made from the long flower spikes of the plant called spike lavender. Because this pale yellow oil was used to give a fresh 'scent' to soaps and cosmetics, the name now means that fragrant oil.