oar

American  

[awr, ohr] / ɔr, oʊr /

noun

• oars
  plural

1. a long shaft with a broad blade at one end, used as a lever for rowing or otherwise propelling or steering a boat.

2. something resembling this or having a similar purpose.

3. a person who rows; oarsman.

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verb (used with object)

• oars,
  present (3rd person singular)
• oared,
  past participle,  past
• oaring
  present participle

1. to propel with or as if with oars; row.

2. to traverse or make (one's way) by, or as if by, rowing.

verb (used without object)

• oars,
  present (3rd person singular)
• oared,
  past participle,  past
• oaring
  present participle

1. to row.

2. to move or advance as if by rowing.

idioms

1. rest on one's oars, to cease to make an effort; relax after exertion; stop working after success or completing a task.

   Once he became president, he was content to rest on his oars.

2. put in one's oar, to meddle; interfere.

   He put in his oar and was told to mind his own business.

oar British  

/ ɔː /

noun

1. a long shaft of wood for propelling a boat by rowing, having a broad blade that is dipped into and pulled against the water. Oars were also used for steering certain kinds of ancient sailing boats

2. short for oarsman

3. to interfere or interrupt

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verb

1. to row or propel with or as if with oars

   the two men were oaring their way across the lake

oar More Idioms  

1. see put one's oar in.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• oarless
  adjective
• oarlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• oars
  plural

Participles

• oaring
  present
• oared
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• oar
  simple
• oars
  simple
• have oared
  perfect
• has oared
  perfect
• am oaring
  progressive
• are oaring
  progressive
• is oaring
  progressive
• have been oaring
  perfect progressive
• has been oaring
  perfect progressive

Past

• oared
  simple
• had oared
  perfect
• was oaring
  progressive
• were oaring
  progressive
• had been oaring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will oar
  simple
• will have oared
  perfect
• will be oaring
  progressive
• will have been oaring
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of oar

before 900; Middle English ore, Old English ār; cognate with Old Norse ār

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

oar oars oared oaring

“Moana” bears this burden heavily because nearly every shot makes you aware that Laga’aia is clearly surrounded by a green screen clutching an oar while a wind machine blows in her face.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

Slap the water with your paddle, oar or hand.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2024

A transatlantic rowing crew have been forced to patch up their boat with an empty champagne bottle and a broken oar after being attacked by a marlin.

From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2024

“The Boys in the Boat” is ultimately a tribute to a time long gone, to the power of teamwork, and to the grace with which an oar dips into the water on a sun-dappled lake.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 15, 2023

Long before sunset, Nhamo was too exhausted to row, so she brought the oar inside and stretched out with Aunt Chipo’s scarf over her head.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Bury got into a kayak but there were no oars nearby to help him paddle, he told the station.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

Members of a lifeboat station surprised their newlywed crewmates with a guard of honour made up of oars and yellow wellies at their wedding.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

Egyptian and Japanese archeologists have been treating the boat's planks and oars using organic materials, including nano-cellulose and Klucel E, that Zidan said met international restoration standards.

From Barron's ● Dec. 23, 2025

Men and women plunged into the sea behind them, grabbing at the ships’ oars.

From Slate ● Dec. 15, 2024

Quickly, I drew back on the oars so I could escape without her.

From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings

A young man on a standup paddleboard oared in as Mr. Carew spoke, the breeze blowing him to shore.

From New York Times ● May 22, 2015

Other rock art found at the site include carvings depicting oared ships, daggers and spirals – all still discernible despite exposure to the erosive effects of wind and sea.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 6, 2014

Its first scene depicted a group of bearded Greeks on an oared galley, rowing through dark waters.

From Time ● Mar. 19, 2014

In Denmark he oared a Viking longship and tracked down a genetic cousin who shared his interest in maths and running marathons.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 23, 2013

And together they waded out and climbed into the dory—it was floating freely now—and Lizzie, with easy hands, oared the boat around and with a few strokes set its bow and Turner toward Malaga.

From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt

One day, as the Eight begin oaring down the river, he buzzes alongside them like a particularly persistent gnat, detailing the flaws in each woman's stroke, moving from bow to stern.

From Time Magazine Archive

If ever your talents are so far cultivated as to enable you to speak to other men, always speak according to your conscience, without oaring for their applause.

From Emile by Rousseau, Jean-Jacques

He made a great work with his elbows as he went, working them backward and forward at his sides as though he was oaring a boat.

From The Men of the Moss-Hags Being a history of adventure taken from the papers of William Gordon of Earlstoun in Galloway by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)

Still the old trout, calmly oaring, looked at them both suspiciously.

From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 5 by Mabie, Hamilton Wright

Had its globe fallen? and its lovely light gone out upon great wings, a resplendent firefly, oaring itself through a yet grander and lovelier room?

From Stephen Archer and Other Tales by MacDonald, George