noun
: any of numerous water-soluble oils that are obtained usually by treating various fatty oils or fatty acids with concentrated sulfuric acid or oleum by a process now considered to be essentially sulfation in most cases rather than true sulfonation and that are used chiefly as wetting and emulsifying agents, as dyeing assistants and lubricants in the textile industry, and in fat-liquoring of leather — compare sulfated oil , turkey-red oil