A lubricant for a refrigerating machine is here disclosed which comprises a polyether represented by the general formula ##STR1## wherein B is a residue of a compound having 2 to 8 hydroxyl groups, A.sub.1 O and A.sub.2 O may be identical or different, each of them is an oxyalkylene group having 2 to 18 carbon atoms, X.sub.1 and X.sub.2 may be identical or different, each of them is hydrogen or a methyl group, R is hydrogen or a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 24 carbon atoms, a is an integer of from 0 to 100, b is an integer of from 1 to 100, c is an integer of from 0 to 100, d is an integer of from 0 to 100, the oxyalkylene group and the chlorine-containing group in the parentheses { } may be each combined by random copolymerization or block copolymerization, l is an integer of from 1 to 8, m is an integer of from 0 to 7, and l +m is an integer of from 2 to 8.The lubricant of the present case is particularly excellent in lubricating properties.