ooze
1 Americanverb (used without object)
-
oozes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
oozed,
past participle, past
-
oozing
present participle
-
(of moisture, liquid, etc.) to flow, percolate, or exude slowly, as through holes or small openings.
-
to move or pass slowly or gradually, as if through a small opening or passage.
The crowd oozed toward the entrance.
-
(of a substance) to exude moisture.
-
(of something abstract, as information or courage) to appear or disappear slowly or imperceptibly (often followed by out oraway ).
His cockiness oozed away during my rebuttal speech.
-
to display some characteristic or quality.
to ooze with piety.
verb (used with object)
-
oozes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
oozed,
past participle, past
-
oozing
present participle
-
to make by oozing.
-
to exude (moisture, air, etc.) slowly.
-
to display or dispense freely and conspicuously.
He can ooze charm when it serves his interest.
noun
-
Geology. a calcareous or siliceous mud composed chiefly of the shells of one-celled organisms, covering parts of the ocean bottom.
-
soft mud, or slime.
-
a marsh or bog.
verb
-
(intr) to flow or leak out slowly, as through pores or very small holes
-
to exude or emit (moisture, gas, etc)
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(tr) to overflow with
to ooze charm
-
to disappear or escape gradually
noun
-
a slow flowing or leaking
-
an infusion of vegetable matter, such as sumach or oak bark, used in tanning
noun
-
a soft thin mud found at the bottom of lakes and rivers
-
a fine-grained calcareous or siliceous marine deposit consisting of the hard parts of planktonic organisms
-
muddy ground, esp of bogs
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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oozesimple
-
oozessimple
-
have oozedperfect
-
has oozedperfect
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am oozingprogressive
-
are oozingprogressive
-
is oozingprogressive
-
have been oozingperfect progressive
-
has been oozingperfect progressive
Past
-
oozedsimple
-
had oozedperfect
-
was oozingprogressive
-
were oozingprogressive
-
had been oozingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ooze1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English noun wose, woze, Old English wōs “juice, moisture”; verb derivative of the noun
Origin of ooze2
First recorded before 900; Middle English wose, woze, Old English wāse “mud, slime”
Explanation
The beauty of the word ooze is not only that it's both a noun and a verb but also that the word sounds like what it means. The ooze on the bottom of the pond oozed between your toes. When something oozes, it seeps out slowly in an unappetizing way. Cheese sauce oozes out of the container. Sludge oozes out of a treatment plant. Cream oozes out of a tube. Whatever is oozing is referred to as ooze. After an oil spill, a cleanup crew has to clean up the ooze that collects on the shore. It can also be used to describe someone's behavior if it's especially awful. A person who is really bad, for example, can be said to ooze evil.
Vocabulary lists containing ooze
Scrabble: Four-Letter Words with 3 Vowels
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James and the Giant Peach
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Shiloh
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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:
One close to the seafront, where the near-200-year-old golf club gives way to a spectacular view across the Firth of Forth to the Bass Rock, has its keypad caked in a sticky black ooze.
From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2026
But nearly two years later, water started to ooze from a different well in the same area, a sign that bottling up the geyser likely repressurized the subsurface and triggered the new outburst, scientists said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
When under stress, the ropes ooze tar, which attracts bees.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2025
And in the spirit of the July 4th weekend, make sure you’ve got some on hand to ooze over a burger, whether chargrilled or smashed.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2025
For the moment, I decide to just hold on to the paper while I think of a plan, and let its kindness ooze into me.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
"Instead of water, oil comes out," said retired military officer Hector Valero Balestrini, gesturing toward a hillside where crude oozes naturally from the ground.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
"Everything about her just oozes elegance and I hope she knows how appreciated she is among us. She dictates the way that you play."
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
“One of the underrated aspects when you’re watching wide receivers is toughness, and he kind of oozes toughness,” said Daniel Jeremiah, lead draft analyst for NFL Network.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2026
This thing oozes with what every sporting event craves: real stakes, total athlete buy-in, and absurd, camera-rattling atmosphere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
His respectful nod oozes tameez, proper Hyderabadi-boy etiquette.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
A 20-year-old with ear piercings and ripped skinny jeans, Johnson oozed charisma; his profile on the app skyrocketed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
I watched in awe as melted cheese oozed out from inside, forming a delicious crust along the edges of my cooked omelette.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
Infiniti oozed glamour in a lilac sleeveless Louis Vuitton dress with a fitted bodice and a cascade of ruffles tumbling from her hip to the floor, creating a long train.
From Barron's ● Mar. 15, 2026
But his rival, who oozed confidence in fight week, was not in Saudi to make up the numbers.
From BBC ● May 18, 2024
The mud oozed and adjusted itself to my shoulder blades.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
At the buffet for the central command post in Lege-Cap-Ferret, it takes two full-size catering trays to contain the range of artisanal cheeses crumbling or oozing onto the warm metal for the firefighters' pleasure.
From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026
Towards the end of last year, the Kremlin leader was on TV in military fatigues several times, oozing confidence, as he discussed the Ukraine war with his generals.
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
This mammoth died nearby, but his carcass slumped into an ancient stream bed and was covered by sediment and eventually topped by the pits’ oozing asphalt, encasing and preserving his bones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
“He doesn’t miss,” Rams receiver Puka Nacua said, “and I feel like the level of confidence that he plays with right now is just oozing out into everybody else.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 8, 2025
I said my prayers, trying to push it away with ritual, but it kept oozing back round the worn edges of the words.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
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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.
