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[oil] /ɔɪl/

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.

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, especially 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,

/ɔɪl/
noun
1.
any of a number of viscous liquids with a smooth sticky feel. They are usually flammable, insoluble in water, soluble in organic solvents, and are obtained from plants and animals, from mineral deposits, and by synthesis. They are used as lubricants, fuels, perfumes, foodstuffs, and raw materials for chemicals See also essential oil, fixed oil
2.

3.

4.
Also called fuel oil. a petroleum product used as a fuel in domestic heating, industrial furnaces, marine engines, etc
5.
(Brit)

6.
any substance of a consistency resembling that of oil: oil of vitriol
7.
the solvent, usually linseed oil, with which pigments are mixed to make artists’ paints
8.

9.
an oil painting
10.
(Austral & NZ, slang) the good oil, the dinkum oil, facts or news
11.
strike oil

verb (transitive)
12.
to lubricate, smear, polish, etc, with oil or an oily substance
13.
(informal) to bribe (esp in the phrase oil someone’s palm)
14.
oil the wheels, to make things run smoothly
15.
See well-oiled
n.

late 12c., “olive oil,” from Anglo-French and Old North French olie, from Old French oile, uile “oil” (12c., Modern French huile), from Latin oleum “oil, olive oil” (source of Spanish, Italian olio), from Greek elaion “olive tree,” from elaia (see olive). Old English æle, Dutch olie, German 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 1520s, but not common until 19c. The artist’s oils (1660s), short for oil-color (1530s), are paints made by grinding pigment in oil.
v.

mid-15c., from oil (n.). Related: Oiled; oiling. An Old English verb in this sense was besmyrian.

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.
oil
(oil)
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.

noun

verb

: We’ll have to oil the mayor to get that permit

Related Terms

banana oil, boil someone in oil, palm oil, strike 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.)

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