Oil used for burning in a lamp; also fig. nocturnal labor or study.
1581. Sidney, Apol. Poetrie (1595), H b. Some of my Maisters the Phylosophers, spent a good deale of theyr Lamp-oyle, in setting foorth the excellencie of it.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, 135. Common lampe oyle.
1657. W. Coles, Adam in Eden, cii. 231. The Countrey-man … that had eaten Fish fryed with Lamp-Oyl.
1842. S. Lover, Handy Andy, iii. Andy … returned with a can of lamp-oil to Dick.
1895. Daily News, 17 Oct., 6/7. The question of the safety of the lamp oils that are now finding their way into the English market.
attrib. 1888. Syd. Soc. Lex., Lamp-oil seeds, the seeds of Ricinus viridis.
