oar

CEFRB2

/oɹ/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A long pole with a flat end used to row a boat.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    An oar-like swimming organ of various invertebrates.

Examples

  • He hung an old, wooden oar on his wall as a decoration.

  • Should one use a pickaxe or an oar to mine ore?

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
3
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An oarsman; a rower.

  2. A type of lever used to propel a boat, having a flat blade at one end and a handle at the other, and pivoted in a rowlock atop the gunwale, whereby a rower seated in the boat and pulling the handle can pass the blade through the water by repeated strokes against the water's resistance, thus moving the boat.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To row; to travel with, or as if with, oars.

More examples

In context

  • The rower blames his oar.

  • He is a good oar.

  • The oar snaps in his hand Before he reaches dry land But the sound doesn't deafen his smile Just pokes at wet sand With an oar in his hand Floats off down the river Nile Floats off down the river Nile...

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

To move the small boat forward, he grabbed a wooden blank and dipped it into the water.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English ore (“oar”), from Old English ār, from Proto-West Germanic *airu, from Proto-Germanic *airō (“oar”). Cognate with Old Norse ár.