oil obtained either from the blubber of whales (train oil) or the head of the sperm whale (sperm oil)
whale oil in American English
noun
oil rendered from whale blubber, formerly widely used as a fuel for lamps and for making soap and candles
Word origin
[1400–50; late ME]This word is first recorded in the period 1400–50. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: curl, partition, separate, transit, union
Examples of 'whale oil' in a sentence
whale oil
Whale oil also went into lipstick, margarine, detergent and candles.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
In the 1860s, whalers who had plundered the southerly oceans headed north in search of fresh whale oil.