Word.ws English Dictionary

oliver

Syllables: ol·i·verUK/ˈɒlɪvə//ˈɑlɪvɚ/

oliver noun: a small tilt hammer, worked by the foot.

Noun

oliver (plural olivers)

  1. (archaic, rare) A small tilt hammer, worked by the foot.
    • I hear, with the song that she sings me in lullaby tones, / The noise of the nailshops, the ringing of hammers, the groans / Of deep-heaving bellows, the "oliver's" thud on the die, […]1903, John Cotton, Chimes and Rhymes, page 66

Proper noun capitalized: Oliver

Oliver (countable and uncountable, plural Olivers)

  1. A male given name from the Germanic languages.
    • Froyſard, a Countreyman of ours, records, / England all Oliuers and Rowlands breed, / During the time Edward the third did raigne: […]1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • "My name is Oliver, sir," replied the little invalid with a look of great astonishment. "Oliver," said Mr. Brownlow; "Oliver what? Oliver White,—eh?" "No, sir, Twist,—Oliver Twist." "Queer name," said the old gentleman. What made you tell the magistrate your name was White?"1837 August, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “In Which Oliver Is Taken Better Care of than He Ever Was Before. With Some Particulars Concerning a Certain Picture.”, in Oliver Twist; […], volume I...
  2. A surname originating as a patronymic.
    • “I appreciate your curiosity,” Oliver answers in hurried monotone without inflection or pauses for punctuation.2025 August 4, Dara Kerr, “Jim Acosta interviews ‘made-up’ AI avatar of Parkland victim Joaquin Oliver”, in The Guardian
  3. A town in British Columbia.
  4. An urban neighborhood of Edmonton, Alberta.
  5. A community in Colchester County, Nova Scotia.
  6. A community in Essex County, Ontario.
  7. An unincorporated community in Scott County, Arkansas.
  8. A ghost town in Yuba County, California.
  9. A tiny city in Screven County, Georgia.
  10. An unincorporated community in Edgar County, Illinois.
  11. An unincorporated community in Whiteside County, Illinois.
  12. An unincorporated community in Posey County, Indiana.
Show 7 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland.
  2. An unincorporated community in Kimball County, Nebraska.
  3. A census-designated place in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.
  4. A village in Douglas County, Wisconsin.
  5. A number of townships, including in Michigan (2), Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania (3), included under Oliver Township.
  6. (dated, slang) Synonym of the Moon (“the Earth's moon”).
    • Now Oliver puts his blank nightcap on,¶ And every star its glim is hiding,¶ And forth to the heath is the scampsman gone,¶ His matchless cherry-black prancer riding;1834, William Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood, The Game of High Toby
    Synonyms:
    the Moon
  7. (alternative) Alternative form of oliver.
    • The last device, the Oliver, was an innovative alternative to the various forms of small tilt hammers recorded and illustrated by Agricola.2017, C. How, Building Histories: The Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Construction History Society Conference, page 81

Adjective capitalized: Oliver

Oliver (comparative more Oliver, superlative most Oliver)

  1. (Cockney, slang) Drunk, pissed.
    Synonyms:
    Oliver Twist

oliver meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

oliver in Hindi

ओलिवर, ऑलिवर

oliver in Tamil

ஒலிவர், ஆலிவர், ஓலிவர்

oliver in Marathi

ऑलिव्हर, ओलिव्हर

oliver in Urdu

اولیور
More languagesFewer languages
oliver in Bengali
অলিভার, অলিভার্স
oliver in Telugu
ఆలివర్, ఒలివర్, ఓలివర్
oliver in Malayalam
ഒലിവർ, ഒലീവർ
oliver in Kannada
ಒಲಿವರ್, ಆಲಿವರ್, ಓಲಿವರ್
oliver in Punjabi
ਓਲੀਵਰ, ਓਲਿਵਰ, ਓਲਵਰ
oliver in Gujarati
ઓલિવર
oliver in Odia
ଅଲିଭର୍, ଅଲିଭର
oliver in Nepali
ओलिभर, अलिभर, ओलिवर

Examples of oliver in a sentence

  • Oliver Cromwell, English military leader, politician, and dictator, or his son Richard Cromwell.
  • Oliver was an unusual chimp, yet a chimp just the same.
  • Oliver, the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery, has a quirky way of describing his creations.

All 11 example sentences with oliver

Synonyms of oliver

Forms of oliver

Noun
pluralolivers
Proper noun
pluralOlivers
Adjective
comparativemore Oliver
superlativemost Oliver

Origin of oliver

Inherited from Middle English Oliver, from Old French Olivier, by folk etymology derived from the Latin name Olīvārius, but probably representing an Old High German form of Old Norse Óleifr (“ancestral + relic”) (modern Danish Olaf and Swedish Olof), or Proto-Germanic *ala- (“all”) + *wēraz (“true”) (modern Swedish allvar). Name of a paladin of Charlemagne in medieval French romance.

Words formed from oliver

Phrases with oliver

Questions about oliver

What does oliver mean?
Oliver means a small tilt hammer, worked by the foot.
What is oliver in Hindi?
Oliver in Hindi is ओलिवर, ऑलिवर. See Oliver meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is oliver?
Oliver can be a noun, a proper noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce oliver?
Oliver is pronounced /ˈɑlɪvɚ/ (US).
What is the plural of oliver?
The plural of oliver is olivers.

Words near oliver in the dictionary

  1. Olivenhain
  2. olivenite
  3. olivenites
  4. Olivenstein
  5. Olivenza
  6. oliver
  7. Oliver County
  8. Oliver Springs
  9. Oliver Twist
  10. Oliver Twistian
  11. Oliver-McFarlane syndrome

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: oliver (page history and authors); Oliver (page history and authors); oliver (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oliver (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oliver (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oliver (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oliver (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oliver (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oliver (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oliver (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oliver (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oliver (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oliver (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); oliver (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-oliver.ogg, En-au-Oliver.ogg.

Cite this entry: “oliver.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/oliver. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.