turpentine
turpentine Lexical Profile
turpentine Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A volatile, pungent fluid obtained by distilling the resin of pine and other coniferous trees, widely used as a solvent and thinner for oil-based paints and varnishes.
"The artist used a rag soaked in turpentine to clean the dried oil paint from her brushes."
The thick, semifluid oleoresin exuded naturally or through incisions from the bark of various coniferous trees or the terebinth tree, from which the volatile oil is distilled.
"Workers scored the bark of the longleaf pines to collect the raw turpentine in small clay pots."
Australian A tall, evergreen hardwood tree (Syncarpia glomulifera) of the family Myrtaceae native to eastern Australia, valued for its durable, marine-borer-resistant timber and resinous bark.
"Because its dense timber resists marine borers, the Australian turpentine has long been favored for wharf pilings."
• verb
To treat, coat, or rub a surface or material with turpentine.
"The restorer carefully turpentined the aged wooden panel to strip away the darkened varnish."
American To tap pine trees or work a tract of forest in order to harvest crude resin for making turpentine.
"For decades, seasonal laborers turpentined the vast pine forests of coastal Georgia."
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Old French terbentine, via Latin terebinthina (resina), meaning 'resin of the terebinth tree,' from Ancient Greek τερέβινθος (terébinthos). Originally extracted from the Mediterranean terebinth tree (Pistacia terebinthus), the term later transferred to the distilled resin of coniferous pine trees.