oozle

oozle noun: an effect created by dropping clear water onto a painted section before it is dry, forming a burst of color.

Noun

oozle (plural oozles)

(painting, watercolor) An effect created by dropping clear water onto a painted section before it is dry, forming a burst of color.
- The painting of foliage is next shown and explained by O'Hara—he blocks out the large areas with a rough brush: labels these areas with marks that characterize the leaves themselves as in the catalpa, horse chestnut. eucalyptus, and other trees from many parts of the country: paints trees in...1954, AV Guide: The Learning Media Magazine - Volume 33, page 336
- The clusters of Queen Anne's lace are suggested by "oozles," drops of clear water falling on the wash just before it is dry.1966, Rex Brandt, The artists' sketchbook and its uses, page 85

oozle (third-person singular simple present oozles, present participle oozling, simple past and past participle oozled)

To sneak; to creep or sidle.
- The woman regarded me closely, I think for the first time. "Why, hello, Jasper! When did you oozle in?"1924, Harry Leon Wilson -, Professor how Could You!
- Margaret loses some of her cool and her sing-song voice turns a shade hysterical as a Mudman oozles up beside her.1971, The Bulletin - Volume 93, Issues 4762-4774, page 43
To flow sinuously; to seep or ooze;
- The Saint lit his long clay pipe and the smoke oozled up around the puffs on his wig and drifted and sank soothingly about his troubled countenance.1897, The Yale Literary Magazine - Volume 62
- I done fin' out, Brer Wolf, dat w'en you git in a holler tree un somebody sets it a-fier, dat de nat'al honey des oozles out uv it, un mor'n dat, atter you git de honey all over you, 't aint no use ter try ter burn you up, 'kaze de honey will puzzuv you.1883, Joel Chandler Harris, Nights with Uncle Remus

Jade distinguished between using what he called "oozles" of clean water to make runs within a painted area and spattering color over an area to create textures.1985, Ernest William Watson, Arthur Leighton Guptill, American Artist - Volume 49, page 83:
You hope the artist knows about oozles, can keep the paper wet, feet green, faces half-hidden in the water, vision shifting and kaleidoscopic.2001, Barbara Hurd, Stirring the mud: on swamps, bogs, and human imagination, page 43:
Watercolor effects like accidental bursts of color, what Meyer calls “oozles,” are no longer prevented or covered up, but instead have become important parts of the painting.2002, the artist's magazine, page 57:
Blackie started to oozle forward, inching along on his belly.2012, W. Michael, Kathleen O'Neal Gear, A Searing Wind:

Noun
plural	oozles
Verb
third-person singular present	oozles
present participle	oozling
past participle	oozled
past	oozled

What does oozle mean?: Oozle means an effect created by dropping clear water onto a painted section before it is dry, forming a burst of color.
How do you use oozle in a sentence?: Jade distinguished between using what he called "oozles" of clean water to make runs within a painted area and spattering color over an area to create textures.
What part of speech is oozle?: Oozle can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of oozle?: The plural of oozle is oozles.

Adapted from Wiktionary: oozle (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: 2026-09-02

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