# oar

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɔː/ · frequency rank #33,347

## Definitions
1. A type of lever used to propel a boat, having a flat blade at one end and a handle at the other, and pivoted in a rowlock atop the gunwale, whereby a rower seated in the boat and pulling the handle can pass the blade through the water by repeated strokes against the water's resistance, thus moving the boat.
2. An oarsman; a rower.
3. An oar-like swimming organ of various invertebrates.

## Etymology
From Middle English ore (“oar”), from Old English ār, from Proto-West Germanic *airu, from Proto-Germanic *airō (“oar”). Cognate with Old Norse ár.

## Easily confused with
- **of** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-of)
- **on** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-on)
- **or** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-or)
- **OH** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-oh)
- **OK** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-ok)
- **op** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-op)
- **OS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-os)
- **oz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-oz)
- **OT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-ot)
- **ou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-ou)
- **OG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-og)
- **oi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-oi)
- **ow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-ow)
- **OC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-oc)
- **oo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-oo)
- **om** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-om)
- **ox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-ox)
- **ob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-ob)
- **od** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-od)
- **OJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oar-vs-oj)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/oar