cod-liver oil

American  

[kod-liv-er] / ˈkɒdˌlɪv ər /

noun

1. a pale-yellow, fixed oil, extracted from the liver of the common cod or of allied species, used in medicine chiefly as a source of vitamins A and D.

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cod-liver oil British  

noun

1. an oil extracted from the livers of cod and related fish, rich in vitamins A and D and used to treat deficiency of these vitamins

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Etymology

Origin of cod-liver oil

First recorded in 1605–15

Example Sentences

Gabito came into the world lathered in cod-liver oil, his parents claimed, with two brains and the memory of an elephant.

From New York Times • Apr. 7, 2023

Piper had put on clothes she had soaked for a week in cod-liver oil, milk and eggs and walked into the New York City Subway at rush hour.

From Washington Post • Dec. 12, 2019

Möller built his company into an international presence and died in 1869 with 70 cod-liver oil steam factories to his name, churning out 5,000 barrels of the stuff a year.

From The Guardian • Jul. 25, 2018

He insisted that the crew start eating the vitamin-rich meat of penguins, which even he described as tasting like a mixture of mammal, fish, and fowl parts, roasted in blood and cod-liver oil.

From The New Yorker • Apr. 13, 2015

Late in the afternoon there was talk of tonics and purgatives and cod-liver oil, but at that point I managed to rally and take some plain boiled chicken, averting such drastic management.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly