oiler

English

Etymology

From Middle English oyler, equivalent to oil +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɪlɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɪlə/
• Rhymes: -ɔɪlə(ɹ)
• Homophone: Euler

Noun

oiler (plural oilers)

1. One who or that which oils.
   1. An assistant in the engine room of a ship, senior only to a wiper, mainly responsible for keeping machinery lubricated.
2. (nautical) An oil tanker.
3. An oil well.
4. (firearms) A small (typically thumb-sized) metal container of oil, often containing an integral brush.
5. (informal) An oilskin coat.
6. (US, ethnic slur) A Mexican.

   Synonym: greaser

   • 1907, Stewart Edward White, chapter 4, in Arizona Nights‎^[1]:

     There were a lot of renegades down towards the Mexican line who made a raid once in a while, and a few oilers livin' near had water holes in the foothills, […]

7. (slang, derogatory) A sycophant.
   • 2007, Mike Donaldson, ‎Scott Poynting, Ruling Class Men: Money, Sex, Power (page 36)

     He also said that it was just as difficult to make friends at Cheam School and at Cambridge because he couldn't be sure who 'genuinely liked him' and who were 'trying to suck up' to him because of who he was — 'oilers', Princess Diana once called such people.

Derived terms

• auxiliary oiler
• flange oiler

 

Translations

ship — see oil tanker

oil well — see oil well

ship operative

• Bulgarian: мазач m (mazač)
• Greek: λαδάς (el) m (ladás)

Further reading

• oiler on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• El Rio, Le Roi, LeRoi, Leroi, Loire, Lorie, oriel, reoil