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Tallow - 7 dictionary results
tal⋅low
[tal-oh] 
–noun
| 1. | the fatty tissue or suet of animals. |
| 2. | the harder fat of sheep, cattle, etc., separated by melting from the fibrous and membranous matter naturally mixed with it, and used to make candles, soap, etc. |
| 3. | any of various similar fatty substances: vegetable tallow. |
–verb (used with object)
| 4. | to smear with tallow. |
Origin:
1300–50; ME talow, talgh; c. G Talg
1300–50; ME talow, talgh; c. G Talg
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To Tallow
| tal·low (tāl'ō) n.
[Middle English talow.] tal'low·y adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tallow
Tal"low\, n. [OE. taluh, talugh; akin to OD. talgh, D. talk, G., Dan. and Sw. talg, Icel. t[=o]lgr, t[=o]lg, t[=o]lk; and perhaps to Goth. tulgus firm.]1. The suet or fat of animals of the sheep and ox kinds, separated from membranous and fibrous matter by melting. Note: The solid consistency of tallow is due to the large amount of stearin it contains. See Fat. 2. The fat of some other animals, or the fat obtained from certain plants, or from other sources, resembling the fat of animals of the sheep and ox kinds. Tallow candle, a candle made of tallow. Tallow catch, a keech. See Keech. [Obs.] Tallow chandler, one whose occupation is to make, or to sell, tallow candles. Tallow chandlery, the trade of a tallow chandler; also, the place where his business is carried on. Tallow tree (Bot.), a tree (Stillingia sebifera) growing in China, the seeds of which are covered with a substance which resembles tallow and is applied to the same purposes.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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tallow
c.1350, talwgh, from a form cognate with M.L.G. talg "tallow," M.Du. talch, from P.Gmc. *talga-, meaning perhaps originally "firm, compact material" (cf. Goth. tulgus "firm, solid").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: tal·low
Pronunciation: 'tal-(")O, -&(-w)
Function: noun
: the white nearly tasteless solid rendered fat of cattle and sheep which isused chiefly in soap, margarine, candles, and lubricants and of which the form obtained from domestic sheep (Ovis aries) is used in pharmacy in ointments and cerates
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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tallow
odourless, tasteless, waxy white fat, consisting of suet (the hard fat about the kidneys and loins of cattle, sheep, and horses) or similar vegetable substances. Tallow consists mainly of glyceryl esters of oleic, palmitic, and stearic acids. Tallow was used chiefly to make soap and candles until the development of synthetic surfactants made it available for animal feeds and as a base for chemicals and lubricants. Tallow is extracted by rendering, cutting, or chopping the fatty tissue into small pieces that are boiled in vats or cooked in steam digesters, then collecting the fat by skimming or by centrifuging.
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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