oozing

Meanings

1. 1verbtransitive or intransitive

   Flowing or leaking slowly and gently out of something, as thick liquid does.

   Grammar: No object when the liquid is the subject: honey was oozing. With an object when the source leaks it: the wound oozed blood.

   Patterns

   • ooze from something
   • ooze out of something
   • ooze something

   Warm chocolate was oozing from the center of the cake.

   Mud kept oozing up between her toes.

   The cut was oozing blood through the bandage.

2. 2verbtransitivefigurative

   Showing a quality very strongly and openly, so that it seems to pour from you.

   Grammar: Takes an object naming the quality: oozing charm, oozing confidence.

   Patterns

   • ooze something
   • ooze with something

   The salesman was oozing charm as he shook our hands.

   She walked in oozing confidence.

   The whole room was oozing with nostalgia.

Word forms

Common combinations

oozing charm

The host was oozing charm all evening.

oozing with confidence

The young lawyer was oozing with confidence.

oozing out of

Glue was oozing out of the tube.

oozing pus

Doctors checked the oozing wound.

oozing sex appeal

The singer was oozing sex appeal on stage.

Synonyms and how they differ

seep

Seep suggests liquid passing through tiny gaps, usually in smaller amounts than ooze.

leak

Leak is more general and can be quick, while ooze is always slow and thick.

exude

Exude is more formal and fits qualities and smells, whereas ooze can sound slightly sticky or excessive.

drip

Drip means falling in separate drops, unlike the continuous slow flow of ooze.

Opposites

Word family

ooze noun

soft thick mud or a slow flow of liquid

oozy adjective

soft, muddy or slowly flowing

oozily adverb

in a slowly flowing way

Commonly confused: oozing or oozing vs oozy?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “oozing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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