oil slick

American

noun

a smooth area on the surface of water caused by the presence of oil.

oil slick British

noun

a mass of floating oil covering an area of water, esp oil that has leaked or been discharged from a ship

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

oil slicks

plural

Etymology

Origin of oil slick

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

oil slick

"This is what I would call a major oil slick," said John Amos, CEO of Skytruth, a specialist satellite environmental monitoring group.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Satellite imagery verified by AFP showed what appeared to be an oil slick spreading from a ship that has been stranded for over a month near al-Qibliyyah island, off Oman's southern coast.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

The Rubymar was an “environmental disaster” even before sinking because the attack created an 18-mile oil slick, Central Command warned last month.

From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2024

Even before plunging to the ocean’s depths, the vessel had been leaking heavy fuel that triggered an 18-mile oil slick through the waterway, which is critical for cargo and energy shipments heading to Europe.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2024

Gangly, bespectacled, hair black as an oil slick and always perfectly combed forward, Tucker was a busboy, waiter, and cashier here at Finnegan’s, not to mention the smartest person I’d ever met.

From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023