a. and sb. [f. L. lūbricant-em, pr. pple. of lūbricāre to LUBRICATE, f. lūbric-us LUBRIC.] A. adj. Lubricating.
1822–34. Good’s Study Med. (ed. 4), II. 214. This matter, instead of being mild and lubricant as in health, is now not only viscid, but acrimonious and corrosive.
B. sb. A material, usually an oil, used to lubricate machinery. Hence transf. a. A fluid that makes motion or action smooth or removes friction. b. (jocular) Any oily or greasy substance.
1828. Webster, Lubricant n., that which lubricates.
1843. York Gaz. (PA), 21 Nov., 3/2. Our angler immediately took the hint, and rubbed his face with the same lubricant [olive oil].
1856. Kane, Arct. Explor., I. xv. 171. Grating it [potato] down nicely … and adding the utmost oil as a lubricant, it is as much as I can do to persuade the mess to shut their eyes and bolt it.
a. 1882. Sir R. Christison, Life (1885), I. 395. Paraffin-oil … had been found the best of all anti-friction lubricants.
1890. Spectator, 2 Aug., 144/1. Etiquette is a mere lubricant of the order of society.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., III. 309. Most external secretions are concerned in digestion either as lubricants, such as saliva, or as digestants, such as saliva, gastric and pancreatic juice.
