oil spill
noun
an accidental release of oil into a body of water, as from a tanker, offshore drilling rig, or underwater pipeline, often presenting a hazard to marine life and the environment.
oil spills
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pluralof oil spill.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
"Even relatively small oil spills can persist in marine sediments for years, compromising the ecological resilience of this protected marine ecosystem."
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
"We are looking at environmental disasters like oil spills, and identifying ways to remediate them in faster, greener and more sustainable ways," Oran said.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026
Across Nigeria's oil-rich southern Niger Delta, decades of oil spills have left a landscape deeply scarred, with wetlands increasingly coated in crude and contaminated sediment.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
There is a lot to be learned from the evolution of offshore energy safety and transport, where rigorous zero-harm protocols transformed oil spills from a frequent occurrence into a rare failure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
An unknown quantity is lost in oil spills and leakage.
From Russian Roulette: Russia's Economy in Putin's Era by Samuel Vaknin
