1. A syrupy, sweet, colorless or yellowish liquid, obtained from fats and oils as a byproduct of saponification and used as a solvent, an antifreeze, a plasticizer, and a sweetener, and in the manufacture of dynamite, cosmetics, liquid soaps, inks, and lubricants.
2. A three-carbon compound with three hydroxyl groups.

A component of fats and oils.