lubritorium

English

Noun

lubritorium (plural lubritoriums)

1. (US, Australia) A facility where vehicles can be oiled.
   • 1957, United States Congress House Select Committee on Small Business, Distribution Practices in The Petroleum Industry, page 34,

     Thus, whether stations have or do not have inside lubritoriums, affords a ready means for a gemeral classification of gasoline outlets as to the adequacy of their facilities.

   • 1963, United States Congress, Hearings, volume 18, page 367:

     We estimate the size of the building and platform, not counting the outside, maneuvering and parking areas, in excess of 50,000 square feet, plus, as you have inquired, a “lubritorium” which is postal parlance for a post office garage.

   • 1992, Michael Karl Witzel, American Gas Station: History and Folklore of Gas Stations in America, page 85:

     The Lubritorium was now a basic part of the American gasoline station, with the moneymaking services it generated a welcome boost to sagging fuel sales.

   • 1975, John Ritchie, Australia as once we were, page 247:

     […] neon-lit motels began to dot the highways; the grocer′s shop became a supermarket, the garage a lubritorium; the ‘bottle-oh’ and the ‘ice-man’ sold their yards and saw them transformed into candy-striped Chicken-Inns or pre-owned car showrooms with more pennants than at Agincourt.

   • 2001, Martin J. McGuirk, The Model Railroader′s Guide to Locomotive Servicing Terminals, page 49:

     The Norfolk & Western′s Lubritoriums were considered by many to be the ultimate development of the engine house.

   • 2007, Jenny Gregory, Keys, George Eric Maxwell, entry in Diane Langmore, Darryl Bennet (editors), Australian Dictionary of Biography: Volume 17 1981-1990 A-K, page 624,

     His study was nicknamed ‘the lubritorium’; there he oiled the wheels and smoothed over difficult situations.

Related terms

• lubricate