oiler

English

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

oiler (plural oilers)

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.
(nautical) An oil tanker.
An oil well.
(firearms) A small (typically thumb-sized) metal container of oil, often containing an integral brush.
(informal) An oilskin coat.
(US, ethnic slur) A Mexican.
Synonym: greaser
- 1907, Stewart Edward White, chapter 4, in Arizona Nights‎:
  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, […]
(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.

ship — see oil tanker

oil well — see oil well

ship operative

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.