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paraffin

noun
🔊/ˈpærəfɪn/
🔊/ˈpærəfɪn/
(also paraffin oil)
(both British English)
(North American English kerosene)
[uncountable]
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  1. a type of oil obtained from petroleum and used as a fuel for heat and light煤油
    • a paraffin lamp/stove煤油灯/炉
    • Those old-fashioned paraffin heaters can be very dangerous.那些老式的石蜡加热器可能非常危险。
    • He poured paraffin over the wood and set fire to it.他把石蜡倒在木头上，放火烧了。
    Oxford Collocations DictionaryParaffin is used before these nouns:
    • heater
    • lamp
    • oil
    • …
    See full entry
    Word Originmid 19th cent.: from German, from Latin parum ‘little’ + affinis ‘related’ (from its low reactivity).