oil
//ɔɪl//
Forms
- Plural
- oils
- present (v1)
- oil
- past (v2)
- oiled
- past participle (v3)
- oiled
- present participle
- oiling
- 3rd person singular
- oils
Definitions
1.Liquid fat.
- I work for an oil company.
2.Petroleum-based liquid used as fuel or lubricant.
- I work for an oil company.
3.Petroleum.
- Oil is found in countries such as Saudi Arabia and is transported all over the world.
4.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.
1.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.
2.To lubricate with oil.
- 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.
3.To grease with oil for cooking.
4.To fuel with oil.
Frequency
Overall
Common· #645
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English oyle, oile (“olive oil”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman olie, 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.