Ooze Meaning
/uːz/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounTanning liquor, an aqueous extract of vegetable matter (tanbark, sumac, etc.) in a tanning vat used to tan leather.
nounAn oozing, gentle flowing, or seepage, as of water through sand or earth.
Sentence Examples
After a while, passion and infatuation ooze away.
I lost my balance and pitched head foremost into the ooze.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The thick honey began to ____ from the jar after being left in the sun.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Thick mud began to ____ through the cracks in the dam wall after the heavy rainfall.
Word Origin & History
* (Noun) Middle English wose (“sap”), from Old English wōs (“sap, froth”), from Proto-Germanic *wōsą, from Proto-Indo-European *wóseh₂ (“sap”) (cf. Sanskrit वसा (vásā, “fat”)). Cognate to Middle Low German wose (“scum”), Old High German wasal (“rain”), Old Swedish os, oos, ooss, Swedish os. Compare Old Swedish os, oos, Swedish os, Danish os, Norwegian os (“fumes, vapors, reeking, fug”). * (Verb) Middle English wosen, from Old English wōsan; see above. Compare Swedish osa (“ooze”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I promised him I would keep silence, but the story gradually oozed out, and the Cronsons left the country."
— 1868, Charlotte Riddell, A Strange Christmas Game:
"She picked up the limp sprout and squeezed her thumb up its tiny stalk. Microscopic grains oozed out. “Why, one sprig of nut grass can ruin a whole yard. Look here. When it comes fall this dries up and the wind blows it all over Maycomb County!” Miss Maudie’s face likened such an occurrence unto an Old Testament pestilence."
— 1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:
"Pale slime oozed through all the surfaces; some of it dripped from the ceiling and burned Dennis as badly as the blazing sparks had done a moment before."
— 1988, David Drake, The Sea Hag, Baen Publishing Enterprises, published 2003, →ISBN:
"He was hard to understand because he spoke softly, and his Vermont accent was as thick as maple syrup oozing down a pile of pancakes."
— 1994, Madeleine May Kunin, Living a Political Life, Vintage Books, published 1995, →ISBN:
"Her heart constricted when she saw thick blood oozing from a wide gash in his forehead."
— 2011, Karen Mahoney, The Iron Witch, Flux, →ISBN, page 278:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The thick honey began to ____ from the jar after being left in the sun.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Thick mud began to ____ through the cracks in the dam wall after the heavy rainfall.