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oil - 11 dictionary results
Oil & Gas Exploration
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oil

  [oil]
Use oil in a Sentence
–noun
1. any of a large class of substances typically unctuous, viscous, combustible, liquid at ordinary temperatures, and soluble in ether or alcohol but not in water: used for anointing, perfuming, lubricating, illuminating, heating, etc.
2. a substance of this or similar consistency.
3. refined or crude petroleum.
4. Painting.
a. oil color.
b. oil painting.
5. Informal. unctuous hypocrisy; flattery.
6. an oilskin garment.
7. Australian and New Zealand Slang. facts or news; information: good oil.
–verb (used with object)
8. to smear, lubricate, or supply with oil.
9. to bribe.
10. to make unctuous or smooth: to oil his words.
11. to convert into oil by melting, as butter.
–adjective
12. pertaining to or resembling oil.
13. using oil, esp. as a fuel: an oil furnace.
14. concerned with the production or use of oil: an offshore oil rig.
15. made with oil.
16. obtained from oil.
—Idioms
17. pour oil on troubled waters, to attempt to calm a difficult or tense situation, as an argument.
18. strike oil,
a. to discover oil, esp. to bring in a well.
b. to have good luck, esp. financially; make an important and valuable discovery: They struck oil only after years of market research.
Origin:
1125–75; ME olie, oile < OF < L oleum, olīvum (olive) oil < *oleivum (cf. Deus ) < dial. Gk *élaiwon (Attic élaion), deriv. of *elaíwā olive

Related forms:
oilless, adjective
oil⋅less⋅ness, noun
oillike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Oil & Gas Exploration
 Our database simplifies the complex global operations. Free whitepapers
 www.Objectivity.com/oil-and-gas
Mercedes Repair Santa Bar
 All Major and Minor Repair Work Call for Appointment or Information
 www.haiksgermanauto.com
oil   (oil)   
n.  
  1. Any of numerous mineral, vegetable, and synthetic substances and animal and vegetable fats that are generally slippery, combustible, viscous, liquid or liquefiable at room temperatures, soluble in various organic solvents such as ether but not in water, and used in a great variety of products, especially lubricants and fuels.
    1. Petroleum.
    2. A petroleum derivative, such as a machine oil or lubricant.
  3. A substance with an oily consistency.
  4. Oil paint.
  5. A painting done in oil paint.
  6. Insincere flattery.
tr.v.   oiled, oil·ing, oils
To lubricate, supply, cover, or polish with oil.

[Middle English, from Old French oile, from Latin oleum, olive oil, from Greek *elaiwon, elaion, from *elaiwā, elaiā, olive.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Oil

Oil\ (oil), n. [OE. oile, OF. oile, F. huile, fr. L. oleum; akin to Gr. ?. Cf. Olive.] Any one of a great variety of unctuous combustible substances, not miscible with water; as, olive oil, whale oil, rock oil, etc. They are of animal, vegetable, or mineral origin and of varied composition, and they are variously used for food, for solvents, for anointing, lubrication, illumination, etc. By extension, any substance of an oily consistency; as, oil of vitriol.

Note: The mineral oils are varieties of petroleum. See Petroleum. The vegetable oils are of two classes, essential oils (see under Essential), and natural oils which in general resemble the animal oils and fats. Most of the natural oils and the animal oils and fats consist of ethereal salts of glycerin, with a large number of organic acids, principally stearic, oleic, and palmitic, forming respectively stearin, olein, and palmitin. Stearin and palmitin prevail in the solid oils and fats, and olein in the liquid oils. Mutton tallow, beef tallow, and lard are rich in stearin, human fat and palm oil in palmitin, and sperm and cod-liver oils in olein. In making soaps, the acids leave the glycerin and unite with the soda or potash.

Animal oil, Bone oil, Dipple's oil, etc. (Old Chem.), a complex oil obtained by the distillation of animal substances, as bones. See Bone oil, under Bone.

Drying oils, Essential oils. (Chem.) See under Drying, and Essential.

Ethereal oil of wine, Heavy oil of wine. (Chem.) See under Ethereal.

Fixed oil. (Chem.) See under Fixed.

Oil bag (Zo["o]l.), a bag, cyst, or gland in animals, containing oil.

Oil beetle (Zo["o]l.), any beetle of the genus Meloe and allied genera. When disturbed they emit from the joints of the legs a yellowish oily liquor. Some species possess vesicating properties, and are used instead of cantharides.

Oil box, or Oil cellar (Mach.), a fixed box or reservoir, for lubricating a bearing; esp., the box for oil beneath the journal of a railway-car axle.

Oil cake. See under Cake.

Oil cock, a stopcock connected with an oil cup. See Oil cup.

Oil color. (a) A paint made by grinding a coloring substance in oil. (b) Such paints, taken in a general sense.

Oil cup, a cup, or small receptacle, connected with a bearing as a lubricator, and usually provided with a wick, wire, or adjustable valve for regulating the delivery of oil.

Oil engine, a gas engine worked with the explosive vapor of petroleum.

Oil gas, inflammable gas procured from oil, and used for lighting streets, houses, etc.

Oil gland. (a) (Zo["o]l.) A gland which secretes oil; especially in birds, the large gland at the base of the tail. (b) (Bot.) A gland, in some plants, producing oil.

Oil green, a pale yellowish green, like oil.

Oil of brick, empyreumatic oil obtained by subjecting a brick soaked in oil to distillation at a high temperature, -- used by lapidaries as a vehicle for the emery by which stones and gems are sawn or cut. --Brande & C.

Oil of talc, a nostrum made of calcined talc, and famous in the 17th century as a cosmetic. [Obs.] --B. Jonson.

Oil of vitriol (Chem.), strong sulphuric acid; -- so called from its oily consistency and from its forming the vitriols or sulphates.

Oil of wine, [OE]nanthic ether. See under [OE]nanthic.

Oil painting. (a) The art of painting in oil colors. (b) Any kind of painting of which the pigments are originally ground in oil.

Oil palm (Bot.), a palm tree whose fruit furnishes oil, esp. El[ae]is Guineensis. See El[ae]is.

Oil sardine (Zo["o]l.), an East Indian herring (Clupea scombrina), valued for its oil.

Oil shark (Zo["o]l.) (a) The liver shark. (b) The tope.

Oil still, a still for hydrocarbons, esp. for petroleum.

Oil test, a test for determining the temperature at which petroleum oils give off vapor which is liable to explode.

Oil tree. (Bot.) (a) A plant of the genus Ricinus (R. communis), from the seeds of which castor oil is obtained. (b) An Indian tree, the mahwa. See Mahwa. (c) The oil palm.

To burn the midnight oil, to study or work late at night.

Volatle oils. See Essential oils, under Essential.

Oil

Oil\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Oiled; p. pr. & vb. n. Oiling.] To smear or rub over with oil; to lubricate with oil; to anoint with oil.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : oil
Spanish: aceite; petróleo,
German: das Öl,
Japanese: 油
More Translations »

oil 
c.1175, "olive oil," from Anglo-Fr. and O.N.Fr. olie, from O.Fr. oile (12c., Mod.Fr. huile), from L. oleum "oil, olive oil" (cf. Sp., It. olio), from Gk. elaion "olive tree," from elaia (see olive). O.E. æle, Du. olie, Ger. Öl, etc. all are from Latin. It meant "olive oil" exclusively till c.1300, when meaning began to be extended to any fatty, greasy substance. Use for "petroleum" first recorded 1526, but not common until 19c. The verb is c.1440, replacing O.E. besmyrian. The artist's oils (1663), short for oil-colour (1539), are paints made by grinding pigment in oil.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: oil
Pronunciation: 'oi(&)l
Function: noun
1 : any of numerous unctuous combustible substances that are liquid or can be liquefiedeasily on warming, are soluble in ether but not in water, and leave a greasy stain on paper or cloth —see ESSENTIALOIL, FATTY OIL, VOLATILE OIL
2 : a substance (as a cosmetic preparation) of oily consistency oil> —oil adjective
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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oil (oil)
n.
Any of numerous mineral, vegetable, and synthetic substances and animal and vegetable fats that are generally slippery, combustible, viscous, liquid or liquefiable at room temperatures, soluble in various organic solvents such as ether but not in water, and used in a great variety of products, especially lubricants and fuels.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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oil   (oil)  Pronunciation Key 
Any of a large class of viscous liquids that are typically very slippery and greasy. Oils are composed mostly of glycerides. They are flammable, do not mix with water, and include animal and vegetable fats as well as substances of mineral or synthetic origin. They are used in food, soap, and candles, and make good lubricants and fuels. See essential oil, mineral oil, petroleum.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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OIL
1. ["The Architecture of the FAIM-1 Symbolic Multiprocessing System", A. Davis et al, 9th Intl Joint Conf in Artif Intell, 1985, pp.32-38].
2. Operator Identification Language. Used for overloading resolution by the Eli compiler-writing system.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Oil

Only olive oil seems to have been used among the Hebrews. It was used for many purposes: for anointing the body or the hair (Ex. 29:7; 2 Sam. 14:2; Ps. 23:5; 92:10; 104:15; Luke 7:46); in some of the offerings (Ex. 29:40; Lev. 7:12; Num. 6:15; 15:4), but was excluded from the sin-offering (Lev. 5:11) and the jealousy-offering (Num. 5:15); for burning in lamps (Ex. 25:6; 27:20; Matt. 25:3); for medicinal purposes (Isa. 1:6; Luke 10:34; James 5:14); and for anointing the dead (Matt. 26:12; Luke 23:56). It was one of the most valuable products of the country (Deut. 32:13; Ezek. 16:13), and formed an article of extensive commerce with Tyre (27:17). The use of it was a sign of gladness (Ps. 92:10; Isa. 61:3), and its omission a token of sorrow (2 Sam. 14:2; Matt. 6:17). It was very abundant in Galilee. (See OLIVE.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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oil

see banana oil; burn the midnight oil; grease (oil) someone's palm; grease (oil) the wheels; pour oil on troubled waters; strike it rich (oil).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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