Definition of Oil of vitriol

1. Noun. (H2SO4) a highly corrosive acid made from sulfur dioxide; widely used in the chemical industry.

Exact synonyms: Sulfuric Acid, Sulphuric Acid, Vitriol
Generic synonyms: Acid
Terms within: Atomic Number 16, S, Sulfur, Sulphur
Specialized synonyms: Battery Acid, Electrolyte Acid
Derivative terms: Vitriolic

Definition of Oil of vitriol

1. Noun. (chemistry dated) Sulphuric acid. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Oil of vitriol

1. H2SO4;a colourless, nearly odourless, heavy, oily, corrosive liquid containing 96% of the absolute acid; used occasionally as a caustic. Synonym: oil of vitriol. (05 Mar 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Oil Of Vitriol

oil of dwarf pine needles
oil of eucalyptus
oil of fennel
oil of juniper
oil of lemon
oil of mirbane
oil of olives
oil of rose
oil of turpentine
oil of vitriol (current term)
oil of wintergreen
oil of wormwood
oil paint
oil painter
oil painting
oil paintings
oil palm
oil palms
oil pipeline
oil platform
oil pneumonia
oil pressure
oil production
oil pump

Literary usage of Oil of vitriol

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The American Journal of the Medical Sciences by Southern Society for Clinical Investigation (U.S.) (1849)
"If to a liquid supposed to contain bile, about two-thirds of its volume of oil of vitriol be added, the liquid kept cool, a few drops of a solution of ..."

2. Hand-book of Chemistry by Leopold Gmelin, Henry Watts (1862)
"Cane-sugar covered with cold oil of vitriol becomes brown without evolving ... oil of vitriol produces with cane-sugar the same black acid as that formed ..."

3. Pharmaceutical Journal by Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (1849)
"addition of oil of vitriol to cod-liver oil, which De Jongh has shown, contains the essential constituents of the bile. Pettenkofer remarks, that the ..."

4. The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History, Politics, and Literature for by Edmund Burke, Benjamin Franklin Collection (Library of Congress), John Davis Batchelder Collection (Library of Congress) (1820)
"I said, What have you done to your child ? you know you have given it oil of vitriol: where you had it I know not. Prisoner did not answer. ..."

5. The Works of Francis Bacon by Francis Bacon, James Spedding, William Rawley, Robert Leslie Ellis, Douglas Denon Heath (1870)
"Spirit of wine and oil of vitriol, a dram of each, hardly mingle ; the oil of vitriol going to the bottom, and the spirit of wine lying above in a milky ..."

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