oil sand

noun

, Geology.

1. a sand or sandstone containing oil or tarry residue in the pore spaces.

oil sand

noun

1. a sandstone impregnated with hydrocarbons, esp such deposits in Alberta, Canada

oil sand

1. A stratum of sand or sandstone containing petroleum that can be extracted by way of wells. The term is also applied to limestone and dolomite strata that contain petroleum.

Word History and Origins

Origin of oil sand¹

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

Example Sentences

In Canada, for example, where oil sands represent an abundant but difficult and dirty resource to extract, would need to leave 82 percent of its reserves alone.

From Popular-Science

Burgart was 35 and working as an engineer in the oil sands when she developed a relationship with her birth mother—an Indigenous woman and regular protester against the oil sands.

From Fortune

Crude from the oil sands must be extracted and processed from a sandy sludge, in a costly and emissions-intensive process that often more closely resembles open-pit mining than conventional drilling.

From Fortune

I have no more oil-sand to exchange, but will send to those who wrote to me.

From Project Gutenberg

When we tap through the sediment we strike into the oil sand, which contains this residue of the diatoms, and an oil well results.

From Project Gutenberg