noun
1.
a. : a colorless or pale yellow bland and nearly odorless nondrying fatty oil expressed from sweet or bitter almonds and used as an emollient in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics and as a lubricant for delicate mechanisms (as in watches) — called also expressed almond oil, sweet almond oil
b. : a colorless to yellow essential oil owing its characteristic odor and flavor to benzaldehyde and its toxicity to hydrocyanic acid that is obtained from bitter almonds by steam distillation of almond cake or almond meal after decomposition of the amygdalin present and that is used in medicine (as for certain skin disorders) and after removal of the hydrocyanic acid as a flavoring agent — called also bitter almond oil
2. : any of certain essential oils very similar in properties and uses to bitter almond oil and obtained from kernels other than almonds that contain amygdalin (as apricot and peach kernels) — called also bitter almond oil
3. : benzaldehyde