What does "extractive" mean?
Extractive: Tending or serving to extract or draw out. Certain branches of industry are conveniently designated extractive: e.g., agriculture, pastoral and mining pursuits, cutting of lumber, etc. Cairnes.
Additional senses
- 2.Anything extracted; an extract. Extractives, of which the most constant are urea, kreatin, and grape sugar. H. N. Martin.
- 3.(Chem.) (a) A chemical principle once supposed to exist in all extracts. [Obs.] (b) Any one of a large class of substances obtained by extraction, and consisting largely of nitrogenous hydrocarbons, such as xanthin, hypoxanthin, and creatin extractives from muscle tissue.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00