oil (redirected from Evening primrose oil)

oil

Any greasy substance liquid at room temperature and insoluble in water. It may be a fixed (nonvolatile) oil, an essential oil, or a mineral oil (see petroleum). Fixed oils and fats (derived from animals and plants) have the same chemical composition—both are esters of glycerol and fatty acids. These oils have a variety of industrial and food uses. Linseed, tung, and other drying oils are highly unsaturated (see saturation); these and large quantities of soybean, sunflower, and safflower oils (also constituents of foods) are used in paints and varnishes. When exposed to air they absorb oxygen and polymerize (see polymerization), forming a tough coating. Some specialty oils and oil derivatives are also used in leather dressing and textile manufacture.

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oil

1. any of a number of viscous liquids with a smooth sticky feel. They are usually flammable, insoluble in water, soluble in organic solvents, and are obtained from plants and animals, from mineral deposits, and by synthesis. They are used as lubricants, fuels, perfumes, foodstuffs, and raw materials for chemicals See also essential oil fixed oil

2. 

a. another name for petroleum

b. (as modifier): an oil engine

3. 

a. any of a number of substances usually derived from petroleum and used for lubrication

b. (as modifier): an oil pump

4. a petroleum product used as a fuel in domestic heating, industrial furnaces, marine engines, etc.

5. Brit

a. paraffin, esp when used as a domestic fuel

b. (as modifier): an oil lamp

6. the solvent, usually linseed oil, with which pigments are mixed to make artists' paints

7. 

a. oil colour or paint

b. (as modifier): an oil painting

8. an oil painting

9. strike oil to discover petroleum while drilling for it

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1.		OIL - ["The Architecture of the FAIM-1 Symbolic Multiprocessing System", A. Davis et al, 9th Intl Joint Conf in Artif Intell, 1985, pp.32-38].
2.		OIL - Operator Identification Language. Used for overloading resolution by the Eli compiler-writing system.