Ooze

Pronunciation

• enPR: oÍžoz, IPA: /uːz/
• Rhymes: -uːz
• Homophones: oohs

• (Noun) Middle English wose ("sap"), from Old English wōs ("sap, froth"), from Proto-Germanic *wōsÄ… (cf. Middle Low German wose 'scum', Old High German wasal 'rain', Old Swedish os, oos); akin to Sanskrit वसा (vásā, "fat").
• (Verb) Middle English wosen, from wose 'sap'; see above.

Full definition of ooze

Noun

1. Potion of vegetable matter used for leather tanning.
2. Secretion, humour.
3. A thick often unpleasant liquid; muck.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To be secreted or slowly leak.
• 1988, David Drake, The Sea Hag, Baen Publishing Enterprises (2003), ISBN 0671654241, unnumbered page:Pale slime oozed through all the surfaces; some of it dripped from the ceiling and burned Dennis as badly as the blazing sparks had done a moment before.
• 1994, Madeleine May Kunin, Living a Political Life, Vintage Books (1995), ISBN 9780679740087, unnumbered page:He was hard to understand because he spoke softly, and his Vermont accent was as thick as maple syrup oozing down a pile of pancakes.
• 2011, Karen Mahoney, The Iron Witch, Flux (2011), ISBN 9780738725826, page 278:Her heart constricted when she saw thick blood oozing from a wide gash in his forehead.
2. (intransitive, figuratively) To give off a sense of (something).
• 1989, Robert R. McCammon, The Wolf's Hour, Open Road Integrated Media (2011), ISBN 9781453231548, unnumbered page:"Good servants are so hard to find," Chesna said, oozing arrogance.
• 1999, Tamsin Blanchard, Antonio Berardi: Sex and Sensibility, Watson-Guptill Publications (1999), ISBN 9780823012077, page 16:There are no two ways about it: a Berardi dress oozes sex appeal from its very seams.
• 2012, April 21, Jonathan Jurejko, Newcastle 3-0 Stoke, Newcastle had failed to penetrate a typically organised Stoke backline in the opening stages but, once Cabaye and then Cisse breached their defence, Newcastle oozed confidence and controlled the game with a swagger expected of a top-four team.

Middle English wose, from Old English wāse 'mud, mire', from Proto-Germanic *waisǭ (compare Dutch waas 'turf, sod', German Wasen, Old Norse veisa 'slime, stagnant pool'), from Proto-Indo-European *weis- 'to flow' (compare Sanskrit विष्यति (viṣyati, "flow, let loose"). More at virus.

Noun

1. Soft mud, slime, or shells on the bottom of a body of water.
• ShakespeareMy son i' the ooze is bedded.
2. A piece of soft, wet, pliable turf.
3. The liquor of a tanning vat.