Word.ws English Dictionary

WD-40

US/ˌdʌb(əl)ju ˌdi ˈfɔɹti/

WD-40 proper noun: a penetrating oil used as a universal solvent, a lubricant and to protect electric circuits from moisture.

Proper noun

WD-40

  1. A penetrating oil used as a universal solvent, a lubricant and to protect electric circuits from moisture.
  2. (broadly, idiomatic) Anything or anyone that has many different uses.

Origin of WD-40

Trademark; an abbreviation of "Water Displacement, 40th formula" or "40th attempt" used by Norm Larson of the Rocket Chemical Company of California, the oil's developer.

Questions about WD-40

What does WD-40 mean?
WD-40 means a penetrating oil used as a universal solvent, a lubricant and to protect electric circuits from moisture.
What part of speech is WD-40?
WD-40 is a proper noun.
How do you pronounce WD-40?
WD-40 is pronounced /ˌdʌb(əl)ju ˌdi ˈfɔɹti/ (US).

Words near WD-40 in the dictionary

  1. WCSes
  2. WCSs
  3. WCTU
  4. WCW
  5. wd
  6. WD-40
  7. WDA
  8. WDARN
  9. WDC
  10. WDCs
  11. WDDX

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: WD-40 (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:

Cite this entry: “WD-40.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/wd-40. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.