Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A waxy white or colorless solid hydrocarbon mixture used to make candles, wax paper, lubricants, and sealing materials.
- noun Chemistry A member of the alkane series.
- noun Chiefly British Kerosene.
- transitive verb To saturate, impregnate, or coat with paraffin.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To coat or impregnate with paraffin; treat with paraffin.
- noun The collective name for compounds of the marsh-gas series which have the general formula CnH2n + 2—that is, two more than twice as many hydrogen atoms as carbon atoms.
- noun Specifically, in com. and manufacturing, a substance obtained by the dry distillation of wood, peat, bituminous coal, wax, etc.
- noun Petroleum or kerosene.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Chem.) A white waxy substance, resembling spermaceti, tasteless and odorless, and obtained from coal tar, wood tar, petroleum, etc., by distillation. It is used in candles, as a sealing agent (such as in canning of preserves), as a waterproofing agent, as an illuminant and as a lubricant. It is very inert, not being acted upon by most of the strong chemical reagents. It was formerly regarded as a definite compound, but is now known to be a complex mixture of several higher hydrocarbons of the methane or marsh-gas series; hence, by extension, any substance, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, of the same chemical series; thus gasoline, coal gas and kerosene consist largely of
paraffins . - noun See
Ozocerite . - noun See Methane series, under
Methane .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun UK A
petroleum based thin and colorlessfuel oil , (kerosene in US English). - noun chemistry Any member of the
alkane hydrocarbons . - noun
paraffin wax . - verb To
impregnate ortreat with paraffin
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a series of non-aromatic saturated hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH(2n+2)
- noun (British usage) kerosine
- noun from crude petroleum; used for candles and for preservative or waterproof coatings
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I bought a chunk of paraffin from the canning-supplies section of a grocery store more than 15 years ago and haven't even come close to using 1/4 of it yet.
Use A Candle To Keep Doors And Windows From Sticking | Lifehacker Australia 2009
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Moreover, it was known that ligation of the ducts of the pancreas, or their injection by oil or paraffin, is not followed by diabetes.
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The next and the most important derivative is the petroleum oil, used for burning in paraffin-lamps.
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You have seen boxes of hard, smooth, white candles with the name paraffin marked on the cover.
The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children Jane Andrews 1860
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October 28th, 2009 at 3: 13 am seems like paraffin is generally accepted as non toxic it was used to seal preserves for years and i think it is the basis for the wax they put on most fruits and veggies at the big markets. is it totally harmless? probably not but seems like there are bigger concerns that the toxisity of parrafin. the flamability does seem like a potential issue but if it is sealed from O2 then that is proabaly not a concern either.
Sustainable Design Update » Blog Archive » New LED Replacement for A-Type Lights 2009
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In early 1924, Blau attempted to observe recoil protons produced by alpha particles in paraffin.
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The same effect can be sustained for longer by attaching a chicken wire cage to a chain, filling it with wire wool and dipping it in paraffin.
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The practice of mixing diesel with paraffin, which is duty-free, cost the government an estimated R300-million to R500-million a year in lost revenue, Ravele told reporters.
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Manuel announced in February that paraffin, which is widely used by poor people for heating and lighting, would be zero-rated for VAT purposes, thereby cutting the fuel's price by about 40 cents a litre.
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The situation is as bad for the urban poor, who don't own cars but cook with paraffin, which is just has hard to get.
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