The fire blazed up when he added paraffin. 他加了一些煤油, 火就燃烧起来了.
paraffin
[ noun ]
from crude petroleum; used for candles and for preservative or waterproof coatings
<noun.substance>
a series of non-aromatic saturated hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH(2n+2)
<noun.substance>
(British usage) kerosine
<noun.substance>
Paraffin \Par"af*fin\ (p[a^]r"[a^]f*f[i^]n), Paraffine \Par"af*fine\ (p[a^]r"[a^]f*f[i^]n or p[a^]r"[a^]f*f[=e]n), n. [F. paraffine, fr. L. parum too little + affinis akin. So named in allusion to its chemical inactivity.] (Chem.) A white waxy substance, resembling spermaceti, tasteless and odorless, and obtained from coal tar, wood tar, petroleum, etc., by distillation. It is used in candles, as a sealing agent (such as in canning of preserves), as a waterproofing agent, as an illuminant and as a lubricant. It is very inert, not being acted upon by most of the strong chemical reagents. It was formerly regarded as a definite compound, but is now known to be a complex mixture of several higher hydrocarbons of the methane or marsh-gas series; hence, by extension, any substance, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous, of the same chemical series; thus gasoline, coal gas and kerosene consist largely of paraffins. [1913 Webster +PJC]
Note: In the present chemical usage this word is spelled paraffin, but in commerce it is commonly spelled paraffine.
{Native paraffin}. See {Ozocerite}.
{Paraffin series}. See {Methane series}, under {Methane}.
A girl who squandered her school fees on makeup, clothing and candy died after dousing herself with paraffin and setting herself alight, police said Wednesday.
By then, the sailor's only physical remains were samples of tissue stored in paraffin blocks.
The device allows the insects to feed by piercing a plastic and paraffin membrane.