noun
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a person who owns or operates oil wells
-
a person who makes or sells oil
Gender
See -man.
Etymology
Origin of oilman
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.
Growing up around Laredo, in South Texas, Lewis didn’t set out to be an oilman.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 12, 2026
The smartest oilman I know once told me that the low-cost producer always wins.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 11, 2025
The Texas oilman put a blank check on the table.
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
Still, William B. Pine—a U.S. senator from Oklahoma who was a wealthy oilman and had defended the guardianship system—began to lobby government officials for White and his men to be fired from the bureau.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
