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Glite Dictionary
big oil

big oil

12 3.2
Large companies in the oil industry that have much money and political power
  • noun
  • /bɪɡ ɔɪl/
  • Literature
translation icon : gran industria petrolera
  • I follow the money, and there's always money in big oil.
  • big oil companies
  • big oil and gas
  • big oil spill

Big Pharma, Big Agra, Big Oil and Big Food.

Examples

  • Uh, in my opinion, it's-- it's big oil that killed the electric car.

    Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006)

  • So at what point did you realize that you were just a pawn for big oil?

    Dog (2022)

  • Or will there always be an issue because it's "big oil" or what have you?

    Blog text (32)

  • All these big oil fat cats, they think that they own this place.

    Dog (2022)

  • 'Big oil companies raise the prices of oil and gas 'which gets back to the consumer, we gotta raise all our prices... '

    Convoy (1978)

  • Or is it the way big oil can make the most profit?

    Blog text (17)

  • You know which candidate in 2008 received the most campaign contributions from big oil interests?

    Blog text (1)

  • Now then, who ultimately foots the bill for the taxes that the big oil companies pay?

    Blog text (33)

  • Most of the big oil companies that you've heard of today came from Rockefeller's Standard Oil.

  • Many politicians are criticized for relying too heavily on donations from big oil companies.

Synonyms

oil industry
vsbig oil
34 3.0

Businesses that find, get, make, and sell oil and things made from it

refers specifically to the major companies within that sector that hold influence
oil business
vsbig oil
12 3.4

An industry that finds, produces, and sells oil and fuel

focuses on the largest companies viewed as especially powerful and influential

How Influential

big oil
  • Literature
12 3.2
oil company
117 3.0

Surface Forms

big oil singular
big oils plural

Morphology

big + oil

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'big' (large/important) with 'oil' (the petroleum industry), yielding 'the large or powerful oil companies/industry.' The pattern 'big + [industry/sector]' is common and cross-linguistically transparent (e.g., 'big tech', 'big pharma'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will likely infer this sense.

Etymology

Big oil comes from the simple image of very large oil companies acting together: the words big and oil make you think of one huge, powerful group that controls oil. So when people say big oil, they mean the major oil companies seen as 'powerful' or able to influence politics and business.