oil of wintergreen

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

oil of wintergreen - oil or flavoring obtained from the creeping wintergreen or teaberry plant

flavorer, flavoring, flavourer, flavouring, seasoning, seasoner - something added to food primarily for the savor it imparts

checkerberry, creeping wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens, mountain tea, teaberry, wintergreen, groundberry, ground-berry - creeping shrub of eastern North America having white bell-shaped flowers followed by spicy red berrylike fruit and shiny aromatic leaves that yield wintergreen oil

birch oil, methyl salicylate, sweet-birch oil - a liquid ester with a strong odor of wintergreen; applied externally for minor muscle and joint pain

References in periodicals archive ?

Birch bark contains methyl salicylate, known as oil of wintergreen, which is a combination of salicylic acid (aspirin) and methanol.

Why all the fuss about birch waters: this fashionable drink from birch trees has a long history of healing

The substance they do allow is oil of wintergreen. I thought this sounded preposterous but found a tiny bottle of the real thing at the grocery store and gave it a try.

It don't come easy: the life and times of a gunsmith

On the edge of the woods, he passed around a twig of black birch and had the group do a "scratch and sniff'' to smell the tree's oil of wintergreen. The plant can be used as a breath freshener for campers who forget a toothbrush, has a painkilling effect and can be used to make tea.

The world is hisdinner table; Author leads foraging forays in area

One of the more common HIPPOs--Herbivore-Induced Plant Protection Odors--is methyl salicylate, aka oil of wintergreen. Numerous studies have confirmed that oil of wintergreen attracts a variety of beneficial insects, including ladybugs, lacewings, minute pirate bugs and aphid-eating hover flies.

Enlist beneficial insects for natural pest control: grow the right flowers to attract these Top 10 beneficial insects to your garden to minimize damage from aphids, caterpillars, flea beetles and other pests

The methyl ester, methyl salicylate (also called oil of wintergreen since it produces the fragrance of wintergreen), is formed with methanol; it is used in food flavorings and in liniments.

ISOAMYL SALICYLATE: SYNTHESIS AND USE IN BEAUTY SOAP AS A FRAGRANCE

* the ingestion of as little as 4 mL of oil of wintergreen can be fatal to a child; in the Western world, essential oils are the fourth most common agent in childhood poisoning?