fu·sel oil

(fyo͞o′zəl)

An acrid, oily, poisonous liquid mixture of amyl alcohols, occurring in incompletely distilled alcoholic liquids and used as a solvent and in the manufacture of explosives and pure amyl alcohols.

[German Fusel, bad liquor, from Low German.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fusel oil

(ˈfjuːzəl) or

fusel

(Elements & Compounds) a mixture of amyl alcohols, propanol, and butanol: a by-product in the distillation of fermented liquors used as a source of amyl alcohols

[C19: from German Fusel bad spirits]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fu′sel oil`

(ˈfyu zəl, -səl)
n.

a mixture consisting chiefly of amyl alcohols.

[1855–60; < German Fusel bad liquor]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

fusel oil - a mixture of amyl alcohols and propanol and butanol formed from distillation of fermented liquors

oil - a slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with water

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References in periodicals archive

It constitutes the significant portion of fusel oil and is identified as ester among chamomile oil and other oils.

Learn details of the Advances in Isoamyl Alcohol Market Forecast and Segments, 2018 to 2028

Fusel oil, released into the water whenever coffee grounds are boiled, causes bitterness; however, fusel oil is not released into water at less than boiling temperatures.

Wild coffee alternatives: for those times when you're too "jangled" to drink coffee, and when tea just won't cut it

(11-25) "Fusel oil" is the term given to all the higher alcohols present within a wine.

Microbial origins of key wine aromas: Part III: higher alcohols and volatile phenols

Dehydration of alcohols present in fusel oil and its conversion to alkenes using a HZSM-5 zeolite

Deshidratacion de los alcoholes presentes en el aceite fusel y su conversion en alquenos empleando una zeolita tipo HZSM-5

y Ceylan, K.: "Potential Utilization of Fusel Oil: A Kinetic Approach for Production of Fusel Oil Esters Through Chemical Reaction".

Sintesis de acetato de n-butilo mediante un sistema de destilacion reactiva a partir de un desecho agroindustrial

Many alcoholic beverages contain byproducts of the materials used in the fermenting process.These byproducts are called "congeners," complex organic molecules with toxic effects including acetone, acetaldehyde, fusel oil, tannins, and furfural.

Alcohol's colour decides severity of hangover

The volatile components, other than ethanol, are contained in what is known as the fusel oil fraction.

Differentiation of bourbon whiskies using gas chromatography and cluster analysis

Proponents referred to the campaign as a "holy war." Those who opposed legislation, especially Nelson Aldrich, were accused of "treason." A Kentucky congressman claimed that "Fortunes are being built upon the wrecks of human bodies." Warwick Hough, a spokesman for whiskey rectifiers, claimed that fusel oil, which was found in straight but not in rectified whiskey, was "the worst poison on earth." The government sent undercover agents, including a political economist, to spy on businesses.

Pure Food: Securing the Federal Food and Drugs Act of 1906

But the group collectively called fusel oil is the most abundant and might be the most intriguing.

Understanding congeners in wine: how does fusel oil form, and how important is it?

This process produces poisonous impurities, called fusel oil, along with the alcohol, and distillers therefore searched for ways to moderate these impurities.

Wiley and the whiskey industry: strategic behavior in the passage of the Pure Food Act