petroleum ether


noun

a flammable, low-boiling hydrocarbon mixture produced by the fractional distillation of petroleum, used as a solvent.

Origin of petroleum ether

First recorded in 1865–70

Example sentences from the Web for petroleum ether

British Dictionary definitions for petroleum ether

petroleum ether

noun

a volatile mixture of the higher alkane hydrocarbons, obtained as a fraction of petroleum and used as a solvent