Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Ooze?

\Ooze\, n. (Oceanography) A soft deposit covering large areas of the ocean bottom, composed largely or mainly of the shells or other hard parts of minute organisms, as Foraminifera, Radiolaria, and diatoms. The {radiolarian ooze} occurring in many places in very deep water is composed mainly of the siliceous skeletons of radiolarians, calcareous matter being dissolved by the lage percentage of carbon dioxide in the water at these depths.
\Ooze\, n. [OE. wose, AS. wase dirt, mire, mud, akin to w?s juice, ooze, Icel. v[=a]s wetness, OHG. waso turf, sod, G. wasen.] 1. Soft mud or slime; earth so wet as to flow gently, or easily yield to pressure. ``My son i' the ooze is bedded.'' --Shak. 2. Soft flow; spring. --Prior. 3. The liquor of a tan vat.
\Ooze\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Oozed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Oozing}.] [Prov. Eng. weeze, wooz. See {Ooze}, n.] 1. To flow gently; to percolate, as a liquid through the pores of a substance or through small openings. The latent rill, scare oozing through the grass. --Thomson. 2. Fig.: To leak (out) or escape slowly; as, the secret oozed out; his courage oozed out.
\Ooze\, v. t. To cause to ooze. --Alex. Smith.