oil of vitriol
Americannoun
noun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Etymology
Origin of oil of vitriol
First recorded in 1570–80
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“You carried oil of vitriol knocking about in a sack? It is infinitely dangerous, my boy.”
From Literature
Medieval alchemists called sulfuric acid “the oil of vitriol.”
From New York Times
A. The action of iron or zinc scraps on diluted oil of vitriol is among the best.
From Project Gutenberg
Ink spots can be removed by scouring them with sand, wet with water that has a few drops of oil of vitriol in it.
From Project Gutenberg
Whether we believe or not that a piece of clean iron immersed in a mixture of oil of vitriol and water, evolves hydrogen gas, the fact itself remains unaltered.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
