Wiktionary
n. An oil extracted from the seeds of the tung tree and used in varnishes and paints etc.
WordNet
n. a yellow oil obtained from the seeds of the tung tree [syn: Chinese wood oil]
Wikipedia
Tung oil or China wood oil is a drying oil obtained by pressing the seed from the nut of the tung tree (Vernicia fordii). Tung oil hardens upon exposure to air, and the resulting coating is transparent and plastic-like, a property exploited in most of its applications, such as wood finishing, as well as the composition of oil paints and printing inks. Related drying oils include linseed, safflower, poppy and soybean oils. The oil and its use are believed to have originated in ancient China and appear in the writings of Confucius from about 400 B.C. Raw tung oil tends to dry to a fine wrinkled finish; the US name for this is gas checking: this property was used to make wrinkle finishes, usually by adding excess cobalt drier. To stop this, the oil is heated to gas-proof it, and most oils used for coating are gas-proofed.
The name is often used by paint and varnish manufacturers as a generic name for any wood finishing product that contains the real tung oil and/or provides a finish that resembles the finish obtained with tung oil.
Usage examples of "tung oil".
Turning her back on the pond, she cleaned her knife, not with water or snow, but with a soft rag moistened with tung oil.
When Mai noticed her sleepy gaze upon it, he brought out a squirrel skin and a pot of tung oil and began greasing the edge.
I know different kinds of wood, and different tools, and what it's like to rub tung oil into the grain for a long, long time, the sound of the cloth on the wood.
Shack must sleep every night with the heady scent of turpentine, glue, tung oil, and wood shavings.
He had hand rubbed tung oil into the wood to finish it, renewing it every New Years Day through all the years since, making up excuses for the hour or so he spent in the shop while Myrt watched the Rose Parade.