oasis
- a small fertile or green area in a desert region, usually having a spring or well.
- something serving as a refuge, relief, or pleasant change from what is usual, annoying, difficult, etc.: The library was an oasis of calm in the hectic city.
Origin of oasis
Synonyms for oasis
Related Words for oases
sanctuary, haven, fountain, well, wellspring, hideaway, shelter, sanctum, cover, harbor, escape, asylum, retreatExamples from the Web for oases
Contemporary Examples of oases
But like American speakeasies during prohibition in the USA, these places are oases in a desert of official prudery.
They are also oases, where Jews and Arabs of all kinds interact as equals.
Historical Examples of oases
I speak of these things, for they were the oases in army life and drudgery.
War from the InsideFrederick L. (Frederick Lyman) Hitchcock
There are oases in it; some of them large, and settled by civilised men.
The Desert HomeMayne Reid
Like oases are these Freshmen to the Student-Body collector.
Stanford StoriesCharles K. Field
One of the oases we visited was the Lucus Ascræus, in the northern hemisphere.
To Mars via The MoonMark Wicks
There were exceptions, like oases in the desert of ignorance and vice.
Ulysses S. GrantWalter Allen
oasis
- a fertile patch in a desert occurring where the water table approaches or reaches the ground surface
- a place of peace, safety, or happiness in the midst of trouble or difficulty
Word Origin for oasis
Oasis
- trademark a block of light porous material, used as a base for flower arrangements
Word Origin and History for oases
oasis
1610s, from French oasis (18c.) and directly from Late Latin oasis, from Greek oasis, probably from Hamitic (cf. Coptic wahe, ouahe "oasis," properly "dwelling place," from ouih "dwell"). The same Egyptian source produced Arabic wahah.
oasis
- A small area in a desert that has a supply of water and is able to support vegetation. An oasis forms when groundwater lies close enough to the surface to form a spring or to be reached by wells.