palm-oil
noun1
Uncommon Uncommon spelling of palm oil.
palm oil
nounalso spelled palm-oilEtymology In the sense of a bribe, the phrase is a punning reference to the palm of the hand and also to oil as lubricant rather than foodstuff.
1
An edible plant oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis).
- Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia.2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29:
2
Slang Money given as a bribe.