ooze

¹

[ ooz ]

verb (used without object)

, oozed, ooz·ing.

1. (of moisture, liquid, etc.) to flow, percolate, or exude slowly, as through holes or small openings.
2. to move or pass slowly or gradually, as if through a small opening or passage:

   The crowd oozed toward the entrance.

3. (of a substance) to exude moisture.
4. (of something abstract, as information or courage) to appear or disappear slowly or imperceptibly (often followed by out or away ):

   His cockiness oozed away during my rebuttal speech.

5. to display some characteristic or quality:

   to ooze with piety.

verb (used with object)

, oozed, ooz·ing.

1. to make by oozing.
2. to exude (moisture, air, etc.) slowly.
3. to display or dispense freely and conspicuously:

   He can ooze charm when it serves his interest.

noun

1. the act of oozing.
2. something that oozes.

   Synonyms: sludge, muck, mud, mire, slime

3. an infusion of oak bark, sumac, etc., used in tanning.

ooze

²

[ ooz ]

noun

1. Geology. a calcareous or siliceous mud composed chiefly of the shells of one-celled organisms, covering parts of the ocean bottom.
2. soft mud, or slime.
3. a marsh or bog.

ooze

¹

/ uːz /

verb

1. intr to flow or leak out slowly, as through pores or very small holes
2. to exude or emit (moisture, gas, etc)
3. tr to overflow with

   to ooze charm

4. introften foll byaway to disappear or escape gradually

noun

1. a slow flowing or leaking
2. an infusion of vegetable matter, such as sumach or oak bark, used in tanning

ooze

²

/ uːz /

noun

1. a soft thin mud found at the bottom of lakes and rivers
2. a fine-grained calcareous or siliceous marine deposit consisting of the hard parts of planktonic organisms
3. muddy ground, esp of bogs

Word History and Origins

Origin of ooze¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun wose, woze, Old English wōs “juice, moisture”; verb derivative of the noun

Origin of ooze²

First recorded before 900; Middle English wose, woze, Old English wāse “mud, slime”

Word History and Origins

Origin of ooze¹

Old English wōs juice

Origin of ooze²

Old English wāse mud; related to Old French wāse, Old Norse veisa

Example Sentences

Other bacteria can access this carbon by “eating” their hydrogen-powered neighbors or the carbon-rich ooze they produce.

From Singularity Hub 

Houston’s DJ Screw changed the trajectory of rap by famously slowing records down, loosening the tempo until it melted into a beautiful ooze — so it makes sense that a fast remix does something like the opposite.

From Washington Post

Curiously, even the dark meat does not ooze rivers of juice when you bite it.

From The Daily Beast

No, this is about which conservative leaders ooze a stereotypical, gut-level manliness.

From The Daily Beast

There they vanish, their fine tones never to be tried more, and ooze through the red-hot ruin, "Hush-sh-sht!"

From Project Gutenberg

And now, for fear my courage will ooze out, I must tell you quickly.

From Project Gutenberg

He lifted a pseudopod from primordial ooze, and the pseudopod was him.

From Project Gutenberg

"They thought they could prick us like that, and let the life ooze out," said the doctor.

From Project Gutenberg

Depend on it, the story will ooze out, you are so well known, and so much visited now.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bleed
• drain
• dribble
• exude
• leak
• percolate
• seep
• trickle