ENGLISH
REFERENCE

ooze

n. uncountable
C2 Proficiency US //ˈuz// UK //ˈuːz// ooze Archaic

n. a thick, sticky liquid that moves slowly. It is often used to describe something that is unpleasant or messy.

n. a thick, viscous, semi-fluid substance that flows slowly. Often carries a negative connotation of being slimy or unpleasant.


SIMPLE

The swamp was full of green ooze.

CONTEXTUAL

After the storm, a thick black ooze began to rise from the cracks in the old sewer pipes.

COMPLEX

The abandoned factory floor was coated in a sticky, tar-like ooze that had seeped through the corroded metal walls over decades of neglect.

Synonyms
Etymology 1

(Noun) Middle English wose (“sap”), from Old English wōs (“sap, froth”), from Proto-Germanic wōsą, from Proto-Indo-European *wóseh₂ (“sap”) (cf. Sanskrit वसा (vásā, “fat”)). Cognate to Middle Low German wose (“scum”), Old High German wasal (“rain”), Old Swedish os, oos, ooss, Swedish os. Compare Old Swedish os, oos, Swedish os, Danish os, Norwegian os (“fumes, vapors, reeking, fug”). * (Verb) Middle English wosen, from Old English wōsan; see above. Compare Swedish osa (“ooze”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English wose, from Old English wāse (“mud, mire”), from Proto-West Germanic waisā, from Proto-Germanic waisǭ (compare Dutch waas (“haze, mist; bloom”), (obsolete) German Wasen (“turf, sod”), Old Norse veisa (“slime, stagnant pool”)), from Proto-Indo-European *weys- (“to flow”) (compare Sanskrit विष्यति (viṣyati, “flow, let loose”)). Compare also Saterland Frisian öäzje (“to smear”). More at virus.

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