benzoline
(ˈbɛnzəliːn, -lɪn)
[f. benzol + -ine = derivative.]
1. Chem. An earlier name for amarine, C21H18N2, isomeric with hydrobenzamide.
2. A commercial name for impure benzene, and often for other volatile inflammable liquid hydrocarbons, esp. for coal-tar naphtha, of which benzene is a chief constituent, and which is used for removing grease-spots, cleaning gloves, etc. Also, less correctly, for a light hydrocarbon obtained by the fractional distillation of crude petroleum, and used to burn in lamps.
(On the 2nd Oct. 1874 a barge carrying gunpowder and ‘benzoline’ along the Regent's Canal in London was blown up by the accidental ignition of the vapour of the benzoline, causing much destruction in the neighbourhood).
| 1874 Daily News 8 Oct. 3/1 The invoice of the Tilbury's cargo was examined by the jury. It included a case of drugs which..might contain benzoline. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts I. 338 Its power of dissolving greasy matters, has caused it [benzole] to become an article of commerce under the name of benzoline. |
3. attrib. (in sense 2), as in benzoline lamp (introduced about 1864).