# ooze

> English word · Noun · IPA /uːz/ · frequency rank #37,125

## Definitions
1. Tanning liquor, an aqueous extract of vegetable matter (tanbark, sumac, etc.) in a tanning vat used to tan leather.
2. An oozing, gentle flowing, or seepage, as of water through sand or earth.
3. Secretion, humour.
4. Juice, sap.

## Etymology
* (Noun) Middle English wose (“sap”), from Old English wōs (“sap, froth”), from Proto-Germanic *wōsą, from Proto-Indo-European *wóseh₂ (“sap”) (cf. Sanskrit वसा (vásā, “fat”)). Cognate to Middle Low German wose (“scum”), Old High German wasal (“rain”), Old Swedish os, oos, ooss, Swedish os. Compare Old Swedish os, oos, Swedish os, Danish os, Norwegian os (“fumes, vapors, reeking, fug”).
* (Verb) Middle English wosen, from Old English wōsan; see above. Compare Swedish osa (“ooze”).

## Easily confused with
- **oz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ooze-vs-oz)
- **owe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ooze-vs-owe)
- **ore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ooze-vs-ore)
- **Ozzy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ooze-vs-ozzy)
- **Opie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ooze-vs-opie)
- **ozone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ooze-vs-ozone)
- **Ozzie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ooze-vs-ozzie)
- **oo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oo-vs-ooze)
- **OE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oe-vs-ooze)
- **one** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/one-vs-ooze)
- **ooh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ooh-vs-ooze)
- **ole** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ole-vs-ooze)
- **OOO** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ooo-vs-ooze)
- **ode** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ode-vs-ooze)
- **oof** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oof-vs-ooze)
- **OOP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oop-vs-ooze)
- **OBE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/obe-vs-ooze)
- **oot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/oot-vs-ooze)
- **OOC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ooc-vs-ooze)
- **once** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/once-vs-ooze)

## Common misspellings (4)
`ooez`, `oozze`, `oze`, `ozoe`

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