Vaseline

//ˈvæ.sə.liːn// noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative letter-case form of vaseline. alt-of
  2. 2
    Petroleum jelly. countable, uncountable

    "Hearts of putty, hearts of vaseline..."

  3. 3
    a trademarked brand of petroleum jelly wordnet
  4. 4
    Any particular kind of petroleum jelly or of any similar lubricant. countable, uncountable

    "A Russian vaseline has been lately added to the many kinds of vaseline found in […]"

  5. 5
    Ellipsis of Vaseline glass, or the coloring used in making it. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, informal, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To lubricate with vaseline.

    "Even at this late date, vaselining will preserve the best of these leathers."

Synonyms

All synonyms
balme905be905b when used as a food additivepetroleum jellypetroleum jelly

Example

More examples

"Hearts of putty, hearts of vaseline..."

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *wed- Proto-Indo-European *-r̥ Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ Proto-Germanic *watōr Proto-West Germanic *watar Old High German waȥȥar Middle High German wazzer German Wasser Proto-Hellenic *élaiwon Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion) English -ine English vaseline From German Wasser (“water”) + Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “oil”) + -ine. Genericized trademark of the Vaseline brand of petroleum jelly introduced by American chemist Robert Chesebrough in 1872.

Related phrases

Vaseline glasspetroleum jelly

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.