creosote

/ˈkɹiːəˌsəʊt/US/ˈkɹiəˌsoʊt/

creosote noun: a pale yellow oily liquid, containing phenols and similar compounds, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood tar, once used medicinally.

Noun

creosote (countable and uncountable, plural creosotes)

A pale yellow oily liquid, containing phenols and similar compounds, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood tar, once used medicinally.
A similar brown liquid obtained from coal tar used as a wood preservative.
(countable) The creosote bush.
- On Shaw Butte, as elsewhere in the Phoenix area, creosotes are abundant, producing a plethora of small yellow flowers in late March and April.1994, John Alcock, Sonoran Desert Summer, page 88
- "King Clone," a creosote plant (Larrea tridentata) found in southwest California, was estimated in February 1980 by Prof. Frank C. Vasek to be 11,700 years old.1997, Norris McWhirter, The Guinness Book of World Records 1997, page 77
A flammable black porous brittle glassy byproduct of wood burning, typically formed inside chimneys.

Verb

creosote (third-person singular simple present creosotes, present participle creosoting, simple past and past participle creosoted)

(transitive) To apply creosote.
- As the fence is exposed he will creosote it for protection.
- Agnes was leaning over the creosoted garden gate …1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, III [Uniform ed., p. 45]

creosote meaning in Tamil, Kannada, Sanskrit and Tagalog

creosote in Kannada

ಮರದ ರಕ್ಷಣೆಗೆ ಬಳಸುವ ಎಣ್ಣೆ, ವೃಕ್ಷ ಸಂರಕ್ಷಣಾ ತೈಲ

creosote in Sanskrit

liquid obtained from wood or tar: क्रव्यप kravyap

creosote in Tagalog

liquid obtained from wood or tar: kreyosota

Forms of creosote

Noun
plural	creosotes
Verb
third-person singular present	creosotes
present participle	creosoting
past participle	creosoted
past	creosoted

Origin of creosote

From German Kreosot in the 1830s, coined in 1832 by German natural philosopher Carl Ludwig, Baron Reichenbach, from Ancient Greek κρέας (kréas, “flesh”) + σωτήρ (sōtḗr, “preserver”) for its use as an antiseptic and meat-preservative. The creosote bush was named after its scent. By surface analysis, containing creo-.

Words formed from creosote

Phrases with creosote

creosote bushes

Questions about creosote

What does creosote mean?: Creosote means a pale yellow oily liquid, containing phenols and similar compounds, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood tar, once used medicinally.
What is creosote in Tamil?: Creosote in Tamil is கிறிசோற்று, கிறயோசோட்டு, கிரியோசோட். See Creosote meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is creosote?: Creosote can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce creosote?: Creosote is pronounced /ˈkɹiːəˌsəʊt/ (UK).
What is the plural of creosote?: The plural of creosote is creosotes.

Words near creosote in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: creosote (page history and authors); creosote (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); creosote (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-creosote.wav.

Cite this entry: “creosote.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/creosote. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.