Wiktionary
n. A waxy white solid hydrocarbon mixture used to make candles, wax paper, lubricants, and sealing materials.
WordNet
n. from crude petroleum; used for candles and for preservative or waterproof coatings [syn: paraffin]
Wikipedia
Paraffin wax is a white or colourless soft solid derivable from petroleum, coal or oil shale, that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between twenty and forty carbon atoms. It is solid at room temperature and begins to melt above approximately ; its boiling point is >. Common applications for paraffin wax include lubrication, electrical insulation, and candles. It is distinct from kerosene, another petroleum product that is sometimes called paraffin.
Paraffin candles are odorless, and bluish-white in color. Paraffin wax was first created in the 1850s, and marked a major advancement in candlemaking technology, as it burned more cleanly and reliably than tallow candles, and was cheaper to produce.
In chemistry, paraffin is used synonymously with alkane, indicating hydrocarbons with the general formula CH. The name is derived from Latin parum ("barely") + affinis, meaning "lacking affinity" or "lacking reactivity", referring to paraffin's unreactive nature.
Usage examples of "paraffin wax".
Candles can be and have been made of beeswax, tallow from animal fat, spermaceti from the sperm whale, waxes from various plants, paraffin wax derived from petroleum, and combinations of these things.
It was melted paraffin wax that had been brushed over the chipped parts and the metal plug seating.
Today, most candles are made of a composite of paraffin wax and stearic acid produced from animal fat.
He set out modeling clay and briefly stirred the melted paraffin wax in its pot on the small electric stove.
The outer was a hooded, tight-fitting suit made from double-thickness oilskin impregnated with paraffin wax.
Maybe you birds never heard of the Lund test, with paraffin wax, to find out who did or didn't fire a gun recently.
Of these 148 had been knocked from their niches and 127 were broken or cracked, with their scrolls exposed to the air and obviously much the worse for it- These we sprayed with paraffin wax to prevent them crumbling, before lifting, labelling and packing them.
I thanked the years of experience that had taught me how to keep matches dry by filling a full matchbox with melted candle wax so that the matches were embedded in a block of paraffin wax.
Each tissue section is embedded in paraffin wax or a plastic resin and shaved into slices thin enough for light to pass through them.
I fancied at first that it was paraffin wax, and smashed the glass accordingly.