1
: a soft deposit (as of mud, slime, or shells) on the bottom of a body of water
The turtle buried itself in the ooze.
2
: a piece of soft wet plastic ground : a marsh or bog that results from the flow of a spring, stream, or brooklet
oozed; oozing
1
: to pass or flow slowly through or as if through small openings or interstices
2
: to move slowly or imperceptibly
the crowd began to ooze forward—
Bruce Marshall
Bruce Marshall3
a
: to exude moisture
b
: to exude something often in a faintly repellent manner
ooze with sympathy
1
: a decoction of vegetable material used for tanning leather
2
: the act of oozing
3
: something that oozes
Synonyms
Examples of ooze in a Sentence
Noun (1)
our car tires sank deep in the ooze
Verb
Sap oozed from the tree.
Juice oozed out of the plum.
The cut on her finger was oozing with blood.
The tree was oozing sap.
The cut on her finger was oozing blood.
Recent Examples on the WebKelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 1 Aug. 2024
Ultimately, there’s nothing in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire that will win you over — no great action sequences, no laugh-out-loud jokes, and certainly nothing as inspired as Ghostbusters II’s perfect metaphor of a malevolent ooze fed by the negative energy of New York City seeping into the sewers.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 Mar. 2024
Sarah Bradley, Health, 3 Aug. 2024
Zendaya Has Turned Pure West London Girl By Daniel Rodgers
Brutalist architecture meets the tropics at The Slow, a 12-room boutique hotel that oozes laidback charm.
—Michaela Trimble, Vogue, 27 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for ooze 
Noun
Driver's Penguin sings and dances, an absolute delight; a pre-villainous Harley Quinn, voiced by Jamie Chung, offers psychological advice; and a smarmy Harvey Dent (Diedrich Bader) oozes with corruption.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 1 Aug. 2024
Ultimately, there’s nothing in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire that will win you over — no great action sequences, no laugh-out-loud jokes, and certainly nothing as inspired as Ghostbusters II’s perfect metaphor of a malevolent ooze fed by the negative energy of New York City seeping into the sewers.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 Mar. 2024
Verb
The patches are more likely to ooze and crust over.
—Sarah Bradley, Health, 3 Aug. 2024
Zendaya Has Turned Pure West London Girl By Daniel Rodgers
Brutalist architecture meets the tropics at The Slow, a 12-room boutique hotel that oozes laidback charm.
—Michaela Trimble, Vogue, 27 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for ooze
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ooze.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near ooze
Cite this Entry
“Ooze.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ooze. Accessed 18 Aug. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
ooze
1 of 3 noun
: soft mud or slime (as on the bottom of a lake)
ooze
2 of 3 verb
oozed; oozing
1
: to flow or leak slowly
sap oozed from the tree
2
: emit sense 1a
a manner that oozed confidence
ooze
3 of 3 noun
: something that oozes
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