oil
/ɔɪl/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Southern US/ɔl/
oil noun: liquid fat.
Noun (1)
oil (countable and uncountable, plural oils)
- Liquid fat.
- Petroleum-based liquid used as fuel or lubricant.
- Petroleum.
- Oil is found in countries such as Saudi Arabia and is transported all over the world.
- The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices). It was used to make...2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2020
- An oil painting.
- Yet, in another way, I was unable to put Picasso's oils in the same class as Cezanne's, or even (which will no doubt shock many readers) as Renoir's.1973, John Ulric Nef, Search for meaning: the autobiography of a nonconformist, page 89
- Oil paint.
- I prefer to paint in oil
Verb
oil (third-person singular simple present oils, present participle oiling, simple past and past participle oiled)
- To lubricate with oil.
- Before they went to see Glinda, however, they were taken to a room of the Castle, where Dorothy washed her face and combed her hair, and the Lion shook the dust out of his mane, and the Scarecrow patted himself into his best shape, and the Woodman polished his tin and oiled his joints.1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC
- Platform faces in Holland are further back from the track than they are in Britain, and it is a common thing to see a driver standing quite comfortably between his engine and the platform while oiling the motion.1955 February, E. J. Tyler and J. Quanjer, “The Steam Locomotive in Holland 1919-1954”, in Railway Magazine, page 131
- To grease with oil for cooking.
- To fuel with oil.
- To say in an unctuous manner.
- "Do you need a drink?" oils Robert Ryan to the disinterested Stanwyck in Clash By Night; "Let's say that's what I need," she sneers back.1984 December 22, Michael Bronski, “Women Act Out on Film”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 23, page 10
Proper noun capitalized: Oil
Oil (countable and uncountable, plural Oils)
- A surname from Indonesian
- A township in Perry County, Indiana, United States, named after Oil Creek (Ohio River tributary).
Noun (2) capitalized: OIL
OIL (plural OILs)
- Abbreviation of oxygen-iodine laser.
oil meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
oil in Hindi
- liquid fat
- तेल tel
- petroleum-based liquid
- पेट्रोलियम peṭroliyam, शिलारस śilāras
oil in Tamil
- liquid fat
- எண்ணெய் eṇṇey
- petroleum-based liquid
- பெட்ரோலியம் peṭrōliyam
oil in Marathi
- liquid fat
- तेल tel
- petroleum-based liquid
- तेल tel
- oil produced from plants
- तेल tel
- lubricate with oil
- तेल लावणे tel lāvṇe
oil in Urdu
- liquid fat
- تیل tel
- petroleum-based liquid
- پِٹْرولِیَم piṭroliyam
More languagesFewer languages
- oil in Bengali
- তেল tel, পেট্রোলিয়াম peṭrōliẏam
- oil in Telugu
- నూనె nūne, చమురు camuru, నూనె దీపము nūne dīpamu
- oil in Malayalam
- എണ്ണ eṇṇa, പെട്രോളിയം peṭrōḷiyaṁ
- oil in Kannada
- ಎಣ್ಣೆ eṇṇe, ಪೆಟ್ರೋಲಿಯಮ್ peṭrōliyam
- oil in Punjabi
- ਤੇਲ tel
- oil in Gujarati
- તેલ tel, પેટ્રોલિયમ peṭroliyam
- oil in Odia
- ତେଲ tela
- oil in Sanskrit
- तैल taila
- oil in Sinhala
- තෙල් tel, ඛනිජ තෙල් khanija tel, ඛණිජ තෙල් khaṇija tel
- oil in Assamese
- তেল tel
- oil in Nepali
- तेल tel
- oil in Pashto
- غوړ ǧwaṛ, تېل tel, نفت naft
- oil in Tagalog
- langis, mantika, petrolyo
- oil in Arabic
- زَيْت zayt, زيت zét, نَفْط nafṭ
- oil in Malay
- minyak, petroleum, minyak batu
- oil in Indonesian
- minyak, minyak bumi
- oil in Persian
- تیل tēl, رُوْغَن rowġan, نَفْت naft, تیلِ خَاک tēl-i xāk
- oil in Thai
- น้ำมัน nám-man, มัน man, ปิโตรเลียม bpì-dtroo-lîiam, น้ำมันพืช nám-man-pʉ̂ʉt
- oil in Vietnamese
- dầu, dầu mỏ
- oil in Myanmar
- ဆီ hci, ရေနံ renam
Examples of oil in a sentence
- The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent.2013 August 3, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847, archived from the original on 02 Aug 2020:
- He was not a mongol but there was a deficiency of a sort there, and it was not made more pretty by a latter-day hair cut which involved eccentrically long elf-locks and oiled black curls.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
Forms of oil
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | oils |
| plural | OILs |
| alternative form (obsolete) | oyl |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | oils |
| present participle | oiling |
| past participle | oiled |
| past | oiled |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Oils |
Origin of oil
From Middle English oyle, oile (“olive oil”), borrowed from Old French oile, from Latin oleum (“oil, olive oil”), from Ancient Greek ἔλαιον (élaion, “olive oil”), from ἐλαία (elaía, “olive”). Compare Proto-Slavic *lojь. More at olive. Doublet of oleum. Supplanted Middle English ele (“oil”), from Old English ele (“oil”), also from Latin.
From Middle English oylen, from the noun (see above).
From Indonesian Oil.
Words formed from oil
- abrasin oil
- absinthe oil
- add oil
- almond oil
- Athabasca oil sands
- avocado oil
- baby oil
- banana oil
- bean oil
- beard oil
- beech oil
- ben oil
- big oil
- bio-oil
- birch oil
- bone oil
- bromoil
- bronzing oil
- bunker oil
- burn the midnight oil
- butter oil
- butteroil
- cajuput oil
- camelina oil
- Candy oil
- canola oil
- carap oil
- carbon oil
- carrier oil
- Carron oil
- cast oil on troubled waters
- castor-oil
- castor oil
- castor oil plant
- chili oil
- citronella oil
- coal oil
- coconut oil
- cod-liver oil
- codliver oil
- cod liver oil
- colza oil
- concrete oil of wine
- cooking oil
- coquito oil
- corn oil
- cost oil
- cottonseed oil
- crab oil
- croton oil
- crude oil
- Danish oil
- dead oil
- deoil
- dinkum oil
- dino oil
- dinosaur oil
- Dippel's oil
- drying oil
- earth oil
Phrases with oil
148 more phrasesFewer phrases
- fork oil
- fuel oil
- gear oil
- good oil
- hair oil
- hash oil
- lamp oil
- mink oil
- neck oil
- neem oil
- oil bath
- oil bugs
- oil cake
- oil cans
- oil down
- oil drum
- oil lamp
- oil mill
- oil palm
- oil pans
- oil pull
- oil rigs
- oil sand
- oil spot
- oil test
- oil well
- oleo oil
- palm oil
- peak oil
- pine oil
- rape oil
- rock oil
- rose oil
- seed oil
- sump oil
- tall oil
- teak oil
- tied oil
- tung oil
- wood oil
- wool oil
- worm oil
- added oil
- fatty oil
- fixed oil
- fusel oil
- gorli oil
- grass oil
- green oil
- honey oil
- joint oil
- Koeme oil
- light oil
- motor oil
- oil baron
- oil baths
- oil cakes
- oil downs
- oil drums
- oil field
- oil green
- oil lamps
- oil mills
- oil olive
- oil opera
- oil paint
- oil palms
- oil patch
- oil press
- oil pulls
- oil sands
- oil shale
- oil slick
- oil spill
- oil spots
- oil stove
- oil tests
- oil trash
- oil wells
- olive oil
- petre oil
- poppy oil
- preen oil
- pulza oil
- roosa oil
- salad oil
- shale oil
- skunk oil
- snake oil
- solar oil
- space oil
- sperm oil
- spike oil
- stone oil
- storm oil
- strap oil
- sweet oil
- tight oil
- train oil
- Union Oil
- valve oil
- whale oil
- adding oil
- engine oil
- fossil oil
- gutter oil
- jojoba oil
- kekune oil
- kikuel oil
- oil barons
- oil barrel
- oil beetle
- oil burner
- oil change
- oil diaper
- oil fields
- oil filter
- oil firing
- oil heater
- oil operas
- oil paints
- oil pulled
- oil radish
- Oil Rivers
- oil shales
- oil slicks
- oil spills
- oil stoves
- oil tanker
- oil tycoon
- peanut oil
- poonga oil
- potato oil
- Russia oil
- Seneca oil
- sesame oil
- strike oil
- struck oil
- suntan oil
- cajeput oil
- haliver oil
- heating oil
- infused oil
- juniper oil
- linseed oil
- Malabar oil
- margosa oil
- mineral oil
Words that rhyme with oil
Questions about oil
- What does oil mean?
- Oil means liquid fat.
- What is oil in Hindi?
- Oil in Hindi is तेल (tel), पेट्रोलियम (peṭroliyam), शिलारस (śilāras). See Oil meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use oil in a sentence?
- The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent.
- What part of speech is oil?
- Oil can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce oil?
- Oil is pronounced /ɔɪl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of oil?
- The plural of oil is oils.
Words near oil in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: oil (page history and authors); Oil (page history and authors); OIL (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-oil.ogg, En-uk-oil.ogg.
Cite this entry: “oil.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/oil. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.