camphor oil

noun

1. a colorless liquid obtained from the wood of the camphor tree by distillation and separation from the solid camphor, used in varnish, soaps, and shoe polish, and in medicine chiefly as a rubefacient.

camphor oil

1. The oil that is obtained from the wood of the camphor tree and is used to make camphor. It is extracted from the wood by steam distillation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of camphor oil¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

In fact, camphor oil, widely used in skin creams and ointments, is potentially harmful if consumed internally.

From BBC

After, Adibi put camphor oil in a glass of water and rubbed the mixture on the corpse’s forehead, palms, knees, foot and fingertips.

From Los Angeles Times

Despite her dosing him with the cherry pectoral every few hours, and rubbing his chest with camphor oil, he had still hacked most of the night, sometimes having trouble catching his breath.

From Literature

It furnishes a liquid called camphor oil and a crystalline solid known as Sumatra or Borneo camphor.

From Project Gutenberg

Safrol, an ether which is the chief constituent of sassafras oil, and also found in considerable quantity in camphor oil.

From Project Gutenberg