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

He recalled being thrown "a metre-and-a-half into the air", along with his rowing partner, when the blade of their oar hit a wave head-on.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

Slap the water with your paddle, oar or hand.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2024

It was their influence that led him to first pick up an oar at Castle Dore Rowing Club.

From BBC ● May 23, 2024

With sculling, each rower holds an oar in each hand; with sweep rowing, each rower holds one oar with both hands.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 29, 2023

The old man reversed the oar and put the blade between the shark’s jaws to open them.

From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway

With its tar-soaked rigging, creaking oak deck and 50 spruce oars, Draken Harald Harfagre is the largest modern replica of a Viking ship.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

He and fellow pundits Joe Hart and Micah Richards swapped their microphones for oars and took to the Hudson River in New York.

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026

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

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

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 George MacDonald

Their children, scattered about in schools, convents, and colleges, will find the home of their affections elsewhere, or rather they will form the habit of oaring for nothing.

From Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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 Jean-Jacques Rousseau

So he went down under his root again, hugging himself upon his wisdom, never moving a fin, but oaring and helming his plump, spotted sides with his tail.

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