OIL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does oil mean? 

• OIL (noun)
  The noun OIL has 4 senses:

1. a slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with water

2. oil paint containing pigment that is used by an artist

3. a dark oil consisting mainly of hydrocarbons

4. any of a group of liquid edible fats that are obtained from plants

  Familiarity information: OIL used as a noun is uncommon.

• OIL (verb)
  The verb OIL has 2 senses:

1. cover with oil, as if by rubbing

2. administer an oil or ointment to; often in a religious ceremony of blessing

  Familiarity information: OIL used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OIL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("oil" is a kind of...):

lipid; lipide; lipoid (an oily organic compound insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents; essential structural component of living cells (along with proteins and carbohydrates))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "oil"):

grease; lubricating oil (a thick fatty oil (especially one used to lubricate machinery))

essential oil; volatile oil (an oil having the odor or flavor of the plant from which it comes; used in perfume and flavorings)

mineral oil (a distillate of petroleum (especially one used medicinally as a laxative or stool softener))

motor oil (oil used to lubricate the moving parts of a motor)

fatty oil; fixed oil (nonvolatile animal or plant oil)

fusel oil (a mixture of amyl alcohols and propanol and butanol formed from distillation of fermented liquors)

stand oil (a thick oil comprised of linseed, tung, or soya oils which have been heated to over 300 C)

neroli oil (an odoriferous yellow oil found in orange flowers and used in perfumery and as a flavoring)

tall oil (an oil derived from wood pulp and used in making soaps or lubricants)

crude; crude oil; fossil oil; oil; petroleum; rock oil (a dark oil consisting mainly of hydrocarbons)

shale oil (oil extracted from oil shale by heating)

flaxseed oil; linseed oil (a drying oil extracted from flax seed and used in making such things as oil paints)

Chinese wood oil; tung oil (a yellow oil obtained from the seeds of the tung tree)

chaulmoogra oil (an oil from chaulmoogra trees; used in treatment of skin diseases and leprosy)

lemon grass; lemongrass; lemongrass oil (an aromatic oil that smells like lemon and is widely used in Asian cooking and in perfumes and medicines)

cohune-nut oil; cohune fat; cohune oil (semisolid fat from nuts of the cohune palm; used in cooking and soap making)

animal oil (any oil obtained from animal substances)

sassafras oil (oil from root bark of sassafras trees; used in perfumery and as a disinfectant)

calamus oil (carcinogenic oil from calamus root used as a perfume)

mustard oil (oil obtained from mustard seeds and used in making soap)

colza oil; rape oil; rapeseed oil (edible light yellow to brown oil from rapeseed used also as a lubricant or illuminant)

safflower oil (oil from safflower seeds used as food as well as in medicines and paints)

hydnocarpus oil (oil from seeds of trees of the genus Hydnocarpus especially Hydnocarpus wightiana (Hydnocarpus laurifolia))

babacu oil; babassu oil (fatty oil from kernels of babassu nuts similar to coconut oil)

almond oil; expressed almond oil; sweet almond oil (pale yellow fatty oil expressed from sweet or bitter almonds)

hedeoma oil; pennyroyal oil (aromatic oil from American pennyroyal)

hyssop oil (used chiefly in liqueurs)

spike lavender oil; spike oil (pale yellow essential oil obtained from spike lavender used in scenting soaps and cosmetics)

pennyroyal oil (oil from European pennyroyal having an odor like mint; used chiefly in soaps)

croton oil (viscid acrid brownish-yellow oil from the seeds of Croton tiglium having a violent cathartic action)

fuel oil; heating oil (a petroleum product used for fuel)

camphor oil (oil distilled from camphor resin)

Derivation:

oil (administer an oil or ointment to; often in a religious ceremony of blessing)

oil (cover with oil, as if by rubbing)

oiler (a cargo ship designed to carry crude oil in bulk)

oiler (a well that yields or has yielded oil)

oiler (a worker who oils engines or machinery)

oily (coated or covered with oil)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Oil paint containing pigment that is used by an artist

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

oil; oil color; oil colour

Hypernyms ("oil" is a kind of...):

oil paint (paint in which a drying oil is the vehicle)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A dark oil consisting mainly of hydrocarbons

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

crude; crude oil; fossil oil; oil; petroleum; rock oil

Hypernyms ("oil" is a kind of...):

fossil fuel (fuel consisting of the remains of organisms preserved in rocks in the earth's crust with high carbon and hydrogen content)

oil (a slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with water)

Meronyms (substance of "oil"):

atomic number 6; C; carbon (an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "oil"):

resid; residual oil (oil products that remain after petroleum has been distilled)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Any of a group of liquid edible fats that are obtained from plants

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

oil; vegetable oil

Hypernyms ("oil" is a kind of...):

edible fat (oily or greasy matter making up the bulk of fatty tissue in animals and in seeds and other plant tissue)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "oil"):

cooking oil (any of numerous vegetable oils used in cooking)

drying oil (an oil that hardens in air due to oxidation and is often used as a paint or varnish base)

madia oil (used as a substitute for olive oil)

walnut oil (oil from walnuts)

sunflower-seed oil; sunflower oil (oil from sunflower seeds)

soyabean oil; soybean oil (oil from soya beans)

sesame oil (oil obtained from sesame seeds)

safflower oil (oil from seeds of the safflower plant)

salad oil (any of several edible vegetable oils that can be used in salad dressings)

palm oil (oil from nuts of oil palms especially the African oil palm)

groundnut oil; peanut oil (an oil from peanuts; used in cooking and making soap)

sweet oil (mild vegetable oil when used as food; especially olive or edible rape oil)

canola; canola oil (vegetable oil made from rapeseed; it is high in monounsaturated fatty acids)

coconut oil; copra oil (oil from coconuts)

corn oil (oil from the germs of corn grains)

cottonseed oil (edible oil pressed from cottonseeds)

olive oil (oil from olives)

Holonyms ("oil" is a substance of...):

margarin; margarine; marge; oleo; oleomargarine (a spread made chiefly from vegetable oils and used as a substitute for butter)

Derivation:

oily (containing an unusual amount of grease or oil)

• OIL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they oil    ... he / she / it oils   
Past simple: oiled   
Past participle: oiled   
-ing form: oiling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cover with oil, as if by rubbing

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

oil the wooden surface

Hypernyms (to "oil" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

oil (a slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with water)

oiler (a worker who oils engines or machinery)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Administer an oil or ointment to; often in a religious ceremony of blessing

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

anele; anoint; embrocate; inunct; oil

Hypernyms (to "oil" is one way to...):

bless (give a benediction to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody with something

Derivation:

oil (a slippery or viscous liquid or liquefiable substance not miscible with water)

 Context examples 

An water-in-oil (w/o) emulsion with immunomoadjuvant activity.

(Montanide ISA 51 VG, NCI Thesaurus)

Besides oil, peanut seed contains protein, vitamins and other nutrients.

(Peanut Genome Sequenced with Unprecedent Accuracy, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

It's not only workers burning the midnight oil who are at higher risk.

(High Blood Pressure Liked to Long Hours on Job, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

And Dorothy oiled them and the Scarecrow bent them carefully until they were quite free from rust and as good as new.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

They have been up all night—see, the oil is low in the lamp, the first morning light is coming in at the window.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

An oil painting caught and held him.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

These pollutants stem from chemical processes linked to oil exploration and transport, and are formed when coal, oil, wood, or tobacco is burned.

(Microplastic pollution adds to oceans’ problems, scidev.net)

The health benefits of olives — and associated natural products such as olive oil — have long been recognized and touted by proponents of the Mediterranean diet.

(Health Benefits of Olives and Olive Oil, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Sakhalin oil is said to promote relaxation.

(Abies sachalinensis var. sachalinensis oil, NCI Thesaurus)

The essential oil from leaves of Agathosma betulina.

(Agathosma Betulina Leaf Oil, NCI Thesaurus)