[neets-foo
t] 
| a pale-yellow fixed oil made by boiling the feet and shinbones of cattle, used chiefly as a dressing for leather. |
| neat's-foot oil (nēts'fŏŏt') n. A light yellow oil obtained from the feet and shinbones of cattle, used chiefly to dress leather. |
neat's-foot oil
pale yellow fatty oil made by boiling the feet (excluding hooves), skin, and shinbones of cattle and used chiefly for dressing and waterproofing leather and as a lubricant. After the slaughterhouse scraps are rendered in water, the oil is skimmed off, filtered through cloth, and subjected to two pressings, the first yielding pure neat's-foot oil, used to lubricate fine machinery, the second, a lower grade, used in the textile and leather industries. The solid stearin obtained in the second pressing is used in soap manufacture. The term neat, derived from Old English, means cattle.
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