'oil of wintergreen' definitions:

Definition of 'oil of wintergreen'

(from WordNet)
noun
Oil or flavoring obtained from the creeping wintergreen or teaberry plant [syn: wintergreen oil, oil of wintergreen]

Definition of 'oil of wintergreen'

From: GCIDE
  • Wintergreen \Win"ter*green`\, n. (Bot.) A plant which keeps its leaves green through the winter. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: In England, the name wintergreen is applied to the species of Pyrola which in America are called English wintergreen, and shin leaf (see Shin leaf, under Shin.) In America, the name wintergreen is given to Gaultheria procumbens, a low evergreen aromatic plant with oval leaves clustered at the top of a short stem, and bearing small white flowers followed by red berries; -- called also checkerberry, and sometimes, though improperly, partridge berry. [1913 Webster]
  • Chickweed wintergreen, a low perennial primulaceous herb (Trientalis Americana); -- also called star flower.
  • Flowering wintergreen, a low plant (Polygala paucifolia) with leaves somewhat like those of the wintergreen (Gaultheria), and bearing a few showy, rose-purple blossoms.
  • oil of wintergreen, An aromatic oil, consisting almost entirely of methyl salicylate (CH3CO.O.C6H4.OH), obtained by distillation of an extract of the wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens); it can also be obtained from some other plants. It is used as a flavoring agent for tooth powders and pastes, sometimes combined with menthol or eucalyptus. It is called also oil of teaberry, {oil of partridgeberry}, and oil of gaultheria.
  • Spotted wintergreen, a low evergreen plant ({Chimaphila maculata}) with ovate, white-spotted leaves. [1913 Webster + PJC]

Definition of 'oil of wintergreen'

From: GCIDE
  • Essential \Es*sen"tial\ ([e^]s*s[e^]n"sjal), a. [Cf. F. essentiel. See Essence.]
  • 1. Belonging to the essence, or that which makes an object, or class of objects, what it is. [1913 Webster]
  • Majestic as the voice sometimes became, there was forever in it an essential character of plaintiveness. --Hawthorne. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Hence, really existing; existent. [1913 Webster]
  • Is it true, that thou art but a name, And no essential thing? --Webster (1623). [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Important in the highest degree; indispensable to the attainment of an object; indispensably necessary. [1913 Webster]
  • Judgment's more essential to a general Than courage. --Denham. [1913 Webster]
  • How to live? -- that is the essential question for us. --H. Spencer. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Containing the essence or characteristic portion of a substance, as of a plant; highly rectified; pure; hence, unmixed; as, an essential oil. "Mine own essential horror." --Ford. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. (Mus.) Necessary; indispensable; -- said of those tones which constitute a chord, in distinction from ornamental or passing tones. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. (Med.) Idiopathic; independent of other diseases. [1913 Webster]
  • Essential character (Biol.), the prominent characteristics which serve to distinguish one genus, species, etc., from another.
  • Essential disease, Essential fever (Med.), one that is not dependent on another.
  • Essential oils (Chem.), a class of volatile oils, extracted from plants, fruits, or flowers, having each its characteristic odor, and hot burning taste. They are used in essences, perfumery, etc., and include many varieties of compounds; as lemon oil is a terpene, {oil of bitter almonds} an aldehyde, oil of wintergreen an ethereal salt, etc.; -- called also volatile oils in distinction from the fixed or nonvolatile. [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'oil of wintergreen'