castor oil
3
3.4
- noun
- /ˈkæstər ɔɪl/
:
aceite de ricino
- To treat dry hair, apply castor oil to your scalp and leave it on for a few hours before washing.
- a dose of castor oil
- swallowing castor oil
- take castor oil
Why are we not all buying just like big tubs of Castor oil to use for everything?
- Why are we not all buying just like big tubs of Castor oil to use for everything?
- Another oil that seems to work very, very well is Castor oil.
- They put needles in people's eyes to release pressure for glaucoma when all they really need is Castor oil.
- So this is organic Castor oil and I like to use it on my brows and my lashes.
Examples
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So then I resorted to trying Castor oil, organic Castor oil because I read online that that works a treat.
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You can use castor oil to moisturize your skin or as an ingredient in homemade lotions.
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But sometimes I also use castor oil.
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I applied a constant layer of Castor oil over one side of my face for an entire week.
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You can't talk yourself out of taking that castor oil.
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Then send your husband out for a bottle of castor oil, she replied, and let's get your labor going.
Academic text (2007) -
So this is organic Castor oil and I like to use it on my brows and my lashes.
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As she talks, Buddy reluctantly gets a bottle of castor oil and a tablespoon from a shelf and brings it to her.
Fiction book (1991) -
The castor oil emptied my bowels, but it didn't bring on contractions.
Academic text (2007) -
For relief of constipation, many people recommend using castor oil as a natural laxative.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is transparently built from 'castor' (the plant or its seeds) + 'oil' (a liquid fat), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes the oil produced from the castor plant. This compounding pattern (plant name + oil) is morphologically and semantically regular and common across languages, making the meaning immediately predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Castor oil comes from the oil pressed from the seeds of the castor plant, often called 'castor beans' because the seeds look like small beans or little bugs. People have long used this pale oil as a medicine to relieve constipation and also in paints and varnishes, so the name simply points to the seed and the oil made from it.