: any of various plastic materials that are obtained from petroleum (as by refining of tank bottoms from crude oil or by removal with a solvent of oil from crude petrolatum), that differ in general from paraffin waxes in having higher melting points and viscosities and much finer and less distinct crystals, and that are used chiefly in laminated paper, in coatings and liners, in adhesives and sealing compositions, and in polishes compare petroleum wax
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