Creosote
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A pale yellow oily liquid, containing phenols and similar compounds, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood tar, once used medicinally. countable, uncountable
- 2 a dark oily liquid obtained by distillation of coal tar; used as a preservative for wood wordnet
- 3 A similar brown liquid obtained from coal tar used as a wood preservative. countable, uncountable
- 4 a colorless or yellowish oily liquid obtained by distillation of wood tar; used as an antiseptic wordnet
- 5 The creosote bush. countable
"On Shaw Butte, as elsewhere in the Phoenix area, creosotes are abundant, producing a plethora of small yellow flowers in late March and April."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A flammable black porous brittle glassy byproduct of wood burning, typically formed inside chimneys. countable, uncountable
- 1 To apply creosote. transitive
"As the fence is exposed he will creosote it for protection."
- 2 treat with creosote wordnet
Example
More examples"On Shaw Butte, as elsewhere in the Phoenix area, creosotes are abundant, producing a plethora of small yellow flowers in late March and April."
Etymology
From German Kreosot in 1935, coined in 1832 by German natural philosopher Carl Ludwig, Baron Reichenbach, from Ancient Greek κρέας (kréas, “flesh”) + σωτήρ (sōtḗr, “preserver”) for its use as an antiseptic and meat-preservative. Creosote-bush named after its scent. By surface analysis, creo- + -sote.
Related phrases
More for "creosote"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.