OIL OF VITRIOL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does oil of vitriol mean? 

• OIL OF VITRIOL (noun)
  The noun OIL OF VITRIOL has 1 sense:

1. (H2SO4) a highly corrosive acid made from sulfur dioxide; widely used in the chemical industry

  Familiarity information: OIL OF VITRIOL used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OIL OF VITRIOL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(H2SO4) a highly corrosive acid made from sulfur dioxide; widely used in the chemical industry

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

oil of vitriol; sulfuric acid; sulphuric acid; vitriol

Hypernyms ("oil of vitriol" is a kind of...):

acid (any of various water-soluble compounds having a sour taste and capable of turning litmus red and reacting with a base to form a salt)

Meronyms (substance of "oil of vitriol"):

atomic number 16; S; sulfur; sulphur (an abundant tasteless odorless multivalent nonmetallic element; best known in yellow crystals; occurs in many sulphide and sulphate minerals and even in native form (especially in volcanic regions))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "oil of vitriol"):

battery acid; electrolyte acid (dilute sulfuric acid used in storage batteries)