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Glite Dictionary
to ooze through

to ooze through

1 4.8
To flow slowly through small holes or cracks
  • phrasal verb
  • /uz θru/
translation icon : filtrar
  • After the heavy rain, water started to ooze through the soil, creating puddles in the garden.
  • ooze through the cracks
  • blood oozing through
  • oozing through your fingers

Examples

  • As the ice melted, it oozed through the gaps in the cooler, soaking the bottom with cold water.

  • I want some place for the fill in material to ooze through and key itself in or lock in place.

  • Some of the hot rock oozes through these fractures out onto the surface.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Slime oozes through the crack.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Some of the boards were loose, with damp earth oozing through the gaps.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • As a black liquid starts to ooze through a tiny latch-hole.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • And now orange slime begins to ooze through the cracks in the concrete.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The plaster will ooze through the gaps in the keys and then kind of sag around them and then harden and dry in place.

  • Soon the cone ruptured, and two tongues of lava, in places ninety feet thick, oozed through the smoking forest.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The syrup began to ooze through the cracks in the jar, leaving a sticky trail on the table.

Synonyms

to leak
vsto ooze through
212 1.0

To let water, gas or light escape through a small opening

is specifically slow and gradual rather than any escape through openings
to seep
vsto ooze through
82 2.7

To move slowly through small holes or cracks

is similar but emphasizes moving gradually through an object
to trickle
vsto ooze through
70 3.4

To flow slowly in drops or a thin stream

is about gradual passage through something rather than visible external flow
to ooze
vsto ooze through
64 3.9

To flow out slowly through small holes

is about gradual movement specifically across a material
to percolate
vsto ooze through
  • Specialized
3 6.4

Make a liquid or gas move slowly through a material with small holes

is broader and not limited to porous movement
to transude
vsto ooze through
9.9

To pass slowly through a surface and come out as small drops

is about steady slow flow across materials rather than droplet release

Antonyms

to stop
∞ 1.0

To make something end and not continue

to block
∞ 3.0

To stop movement, access, or progress

How Fast

to ooze through
1 4.8
to seep into
25 3.0
to drip down
12 1.4

Surface Forms

ooze through infinitive
oozed through past
oozed through past participle
oozing through present participle
oozes through third person singular

Morphology

ooze + through

The verb 'ooze' denotes slow flow or seepage and the preposition 'through' signals movement across a barrier, so the combined meaning 'to flow or leak slowly and gradually through something' is directly compositional and predictable. This verb+preposition motion pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English composition, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand the MWE.

Etymology

The verb ooze through creates a slow, sticky image: imagine thick liquid or a smell slowly moving, with ooze seeping through small gaps or holes. That's why it means 'to flow or leak slowly and gradually through something'.