PARAFFINED

Verb

paraffined

simple past tense and past participle of paraffin

Anagrams

• deparaffin

Source: Wiktionary


PARAFFIN

Par"af*fin, Par"af*fine, n. Etym: [F. paraffine, fr. L. parum too little + affinis akin. So named in allusion to its chemical inactivity.] (Chem.)

Definition: A white waxy substance, resembling spermaceti, tasteless and odorless, and obtained from coal tar, wood tar, petroleum, etc., by distillation. It is used as an illuminant and 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 coal gas and kerosene consist largely of paraffins.

Note: In the present chemical usage this word is spelt paraffin, but in commerce it is commonly spelt paraffine. Native paraffin. See Ozocerite.

– Paraffin series. See Methane series, under Methane.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

9 February 2025

DEFROSTER

(noun) heater that removes ice or frost (as from a windshield or a refrigerator or the wings of an airplane)


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