noun
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a person who owns or operates oil wells
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a person who makes or sells oil
Gender
See -man.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of oilman
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at oil, man
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:
But what is opportunity to one oilman is “uninvestable” to another.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 14, 2026
Growing up around Laredo, in South Texas, Lewis didn’t set out to be an oilman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
When Greg’s father told him about his grandfather, he recounted a story about a Texas oilman who tried to buy the “Allison Mystery Clock.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2024
He’s an oilman who invested in environmentally questionable projects; she’s a climate scientist.
From New York Times ● May 30, 2024
“After all,” one oilman reasoned, “we’re just another Middle East war away from another boom.”
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Some oilmen say that despite potential breakthroughs, the country is set to see higher oil prices in coming years as the small producers that once raced to add rigs when prices soared disappear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
It gave the oilmen and real estate developers and business titans across Texas who funneled cash to their alma mater bragging rights at the Petroleum Club of Houston and country clubs in Dallas.
From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2024
Two oilmen would come to grief, more or less, in the 1920s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2023
"Barrack has done deals with Saudi princes, Texas oilmen, a Caribbean dictator — even with Donald Trump," that sycophantic Fortune profile recounted.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2022
On January 18, 1923, five months after the murder of McBride, many of the big oilmen gathered for another auction.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
