a small fertile or green area in a desert region, usually having a spring or well.
2.
something serving as a refuge, relief, or pleasant change from what is usual, annoying, difficult, etc.: The library was an oasis of calm in the hectic city.
n. a place to buy liquor. : Let's go into this oasis here and pick up a few bottles.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
1613, from Fr., from L.L., from Gk. oasis, probably from Hamitic (cf. Coptic wahe, ouahe "dwelling place, oasis," from ouih "dwell"). The same Egyptian source produced Arabic wah.