Meaning & use
oxygen
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Meanings
noununcountable
A gas in the air with no color or smell that people and animals must breathe to stay alive.
Grammar: Uncountable: oxygen is, not an oxygen.
Patterns
- oxygen level
- lack of oxygen
Climbers carry extra oxygen to use at high altitude.
Fish take oxygen from the water through their gills.
The patient was given oxygen through a mask.
noununcountablechemistrytechnical
The chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number eight.
Grammar: Uncountable, and written without an article in science: oxygen reacts with iron.
Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen.
Oxygen reacts with iron to form rust.
Liquid oxygen is stored at very low temperatures.
noununcountablefigurative
Something that gives energy, support or attention that lets a thing continue or grow.
Grammar: Used figuratively: the oxygen of publicity.
Patterns
- the oxygen of something
Local news gave the campaign the oxygen it needed.
Without funding, the small theater was starved of oxygen.
Criticism gave the rumor more oxygen.
Common combinations
- oxygen mask
- An oxygen mask dropped from the ceiling.
- oxygen tank
- The diver checked her oxygen tank.
- oxygen level
- Doctors monitored his oxygen level.
- lack of oxygen
- A lack of oxygen can cause dizziness.
- supply oxygen
- Plants supply oxygen to the air.
- run out of oxygen
- The fire ran out of oxygen and went out.
Synonyms and how they differ
- air
- Air is the mixture that contains oxygen, so air is wider while oxygen names one gas.
- O2
- O2 is the chemical formula and is used in science writing, but oxygen is the everyday word.
- fuel
- Fuel works for the figurative sense, though it suggests energy supplied rather than attention.
- lifeblood
- Lifeblood means the thing most vital to survival, and is used figuratively like oxygen.
Word family
- oxygenate verb
- to supply or combine with oxygen
- oxygenated adjective
- containing oxygen
- oxidize verb
- to combine with oxygen, as iron does when it rusts
- oxide noun
- a compound of oxygen with another element
Commonly confused: oxygen or ozone?
oxygen vs ozone
Ozone is a form of oxygen with three atoms, found high in the atmosphere, while oxygen is the gas we breathe.
Practice
Mountain climbers often carry bottled ___ because the air is thin at high altitude.
Choose one answer.
Climbers need oxygen to breathe when the air is thin. Nitrogen and hydrogen do not support breathing, and carbon is a solid element.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “oxygen”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.