Canada balsam: Meaning and Definition of

Can'ada bal'sam

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. a pale yellow or greenish, slightly fluorescent, clear, viscous, bitter-tasting, water-insoluble liquid, having a pleasant, aromatic, pinelike odor, and solidifying on exposure to air: obtained from the balsam fir, Abies balsamea, and used chiefly for mounting objects on microscope slides, in the manufacture of fine lacquers, and as a cement for lenses. Also called
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.