🛢️ An oil well 🚢 An oil ship 🧑‍🔧 A machine worker

oiler

1 7.7

A well that produces oil from the ground

noun
/ˈɔɪlər/

Specialized

: pozo de petróleo

In the heart of Texas, an oiler has been yielding oil for over a decade, fueling the local economy.

Examples

This this hole right here is actually where the the oiler will live.
Someone needs to tell them that the Navy has tankers; they call them oilers, and the lack of such on the scene is cause for a court martial.

Blog text (9)
The new oil well, known as the oiler, started producing thousands of barrels each day.
After drilling deep into the earth, the team finally discovered an oiler that would bring them great profit.

Synonyms

oil well

vsoiler

Specialized

19 2.8

A deep hole in the ground that brings up oil

is the general term for any well that yields oil

gusher

vsoiler

Specialized

10 8.1

An oil well that shoots out oil with great force

is a yielding well that may not produce oil so violently

stripper

vsoiler

Specialized

4 8.9

An oil well that produces very little oil near the end of its life

is the broader term for any well that yields oil regardless of output

stripper well

vsoiler

Specialized

1 9.6

An oil well near the end of its life that produces less than ten barrels a day

is a general yielding well not defined by very low output

spouter

vsoiler

Archaic

9.6

An oil well that suddenly shoots oil high into the air

is a yielding well that does not always eject oil forcefully

Surface Forms

oiler singular

oilers plural

Morphology

oiler = oil (semi-transparent) = oil + er

The connection to oil is clear, but the specific sense 'an oil well' is a lexicalized extension that is not fully predictable from the suffix -er.

Etymology

Oiler comes from oil (from Latin oleum, 'oil') plus the ending -er which can mean 'a thing that' or 'place of'. A helpful image is a hole or well that gives oil, so an oiler is an oil well.