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Any one of a great variety of unctuous combustible substances, not miscible with water; as, olive oil, whale oil, rock oil, etc. They are of animal, vegetable, or mineral origin and of varied composition, and they are variously used for food, for solvents, for anointing, lubrication, illumination, etc. By extension, an…

of xylene in which the two methyl groups are in the ortho position; a colorless, liquid, combustible hydrocarbon resembling benzene.

A process for preserving timber and rendering it incombustible by impregnating it successively with solutions of sulphate of iron and calcium chloride in vacuo. --Payn"ize, v. t.

The powder or other combustible used to communicate fire to a charge of gunpowder, as in a firearm.

A furnace for producing combustible gas which is used for fuel.

A funeral pile; a combustible heap on which the dead are burned; hence, any pile to be burnt. For nine long nights, through all the dusky air, The pyres thick flaming shot a dismal glare. Pope.

firework consisting of a cylindrical case of paper or metal filled with a composition of combustible ingredients, as niter, charcoal, and sulphur, and fastened to a guiding stick. The rocket is projected through the air by the force arising from the expansion of the gases liberated by combustion of the composition. Ro…

chestra; -- so called from its form. Pharaoh's serpent (Chem.), mercuric sulphocyanate, a combustible white substance which in burning gives off a poisonous vapor and leaves a peculiar brown voluminous residue which is expelled in a serpentine from. It is employed as a scientific toy. -- Serpent cucumber (Bot.), the l…

A heap of damp combustibles partially ignited and burning slowly, placed on the windward side of a house, tent, or the like, in order, by the thick smoke, to keep off mosquitoes or other insects. [U. S.] Bartlett.

A little pipe, or hollow cylinder of paper, filled with powder or combustible matter, to be thrown into the air while burning, so as to burst there with a crack. Lampoons, like squibs, may make a present blaze. Waller. The making and selling of fireworks, and squibs . . . is punishable. Blackstone.

A composition of combustible matter used in the heading of rockets, in mines, etc., which, exploding of a air, presents a starlike appearance.

A light or luminary formed of some combustible substance, as of resinous wood; a large candle or flambeau, or a lamp giving a large, flaring flame. They light the nuptial torch. Milton. Torch thistle. (Bot.) See under Thistle.