ooze

¹ American  

[ooz] / uz /

verb (used without object)

oozed, oozing

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 oraway ).

   His cockiness oozed away during my rebuttal speech.

5. to display some characteristic or quality.

   to ooze with piety.

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verb (used with object)

oozed, oozing

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 American  

[ooz] / uz /

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.

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ooze ¹ British  

/ 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. to disappear or escape gradually

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noun

1. a slow flowing or leaking

2. an infusion of vegetable matter, such as sumach or oak bark, used in tanning

ooze ² British  

/ 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

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Etymology

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”

Explanation

The beauty of the word ooze is not only that it's both a noun and a verb but also that the word sounds like what it means. The ooze on the bottom of the pond oozed between your toes. When something oozes, it seeps out slowly in an unappetizing way. Cheese sauce oozes out of the container. Sludge oozes out of a treatment plant. Cream oozes out of a tube. Whatever is oozing is referred to as ooze. After an oil spill, a cleanup crew has to clean up the ooze that collects on the shore. It can also be used to describe someone's behavior if it's especially awful. A person who is really bad, for example, can be said to ooze evil.

Example Sentences

There’s a scene in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze where Vanilla Ice comes out, and he’s like, “Go ninja, go ninja, go,” and the ninja turtles all dance.

From Slate • Jun. 9, 2021

Among the 2,000 entries was much pairing of Judy Garland with Ted Cruz/Rudy Giuliani/The Blob to make The Wizard of Ooze; others had Mike Lindell singing with Little Anthony on Tears on MyPillow.

From Washington Post • Mar. 4, 2021

Watching Isaac channel his inner Ivan Ooze, it’s difficult not to think of Zoe Saldana, who has been a staple of this century’s science-fiction franchises while rarely being allowed to show her face.

From Salon • May 30, 2016

Secret of the Ooze is probably one of the first films I saw in theaters, in fact.

From The Verge • Aug. 8, 2014

Ooze leather, vest pocket size, single copy $8.00; twelve or more, each $2.75.

From Rudimental Divine Science by Eddy, Mary Baker

Related Words

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