Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A fatty substance obtained from wool and used in soaps, cosmetics, and ointments.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A substance, consisting chiefly of cholesterin, extracted from wool, used as a basis for ointments.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Physiol. Chem.) A peculiar fatlike body, made up of cholesterin and certain fatty acids, found in feathers, hair, wool, and keratin tissues generally.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A greasy yellow substance chemically akin to wax that is secreted from wooly animals, with a variety of uses from rust prevention, lubrication and waterproofing to cosmetics and skin ointments.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a yellow viscous animal oil extracted from wool; a mixture of fatty acids and esters; used in some ointments and cosmetics
  • noun an emollient containing wool fat (a fatty substance obtained from the wool of sheep)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[German : from Latin lāna, wool + Latin oleum, oil.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Former trademark, from lana (“wool”) +‎ -in

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Examples

Comments

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  • See comment under agnolin.

    January 2, 2011