turpentine.

1. An oil obtained from tree resins or pinewood, used especially as a solvent and paint thinner.

2. A semifluid mixture of resin and oil exuded by the terebinth or certain conifers.

3. To treat or coat a surface or object by applying turpentine to it.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• the smell of turpentine
• thin paint with turpentine
• a bottle of turpentine

On the page

The studio smelled of turpentine long after the brushes were put away.

She labeled the turpentine bottle before returning it to the shelf.

Usage notes

Primary category: sensory / image-rich description. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: Usually uncountable material noun; plural turpentines for kinds. Verb turpentine, turpentines, turpentined, turpentined, turpentining. Commonness: moderately common (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: Direct full extraction: tree oleoresin; essential oil distilled from it or related pinewood oil, especially solvent/thinner; apply-to verb and extraction/tapping verb. Solvent/raw-resin/apply senses retained, extraction overflow flagged. Individually checked for a distinct image, texture, sound, taste, smell, visual-perception or artistic function. Definitions/examples are original; sensory strength is not assumed to imply emotion. Writing functions: pungent studio solvent, raw resin versus distilled oil. Third-person singular: turpentines.