n. [ OE. wose, AS. wase dirt, mire, mud, akin to w&unr_;s juice, ooze, Icel. vās wetness, OHG. waso turf, sod, G. wasen. ] 1. Soft mud or slime; earth so wet as to flow gently, or easily yield to pressure. “My son i' the ooze is bedded.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Soft flow; spring. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The liquor of a tan vat. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Oceanography) A soft deposit covering large areas of the ocean bottom, composed largely or mainly of the shells or other hard parts of minute organisms, as Foraminifera, Radiolaria, and diatoms. The radiolarian ooze occurring in many places in very deep water is composed mainly of the siliceous skeletons of radiolarians, calcareous matter being dissolved by the lage percentage of carbon dioxide in the water at these depths. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Oozed p. pr. & vb. n. Oozing. ] [ Prov. Eng. weeze, wooz. See Ooze, n. ] 1. To flow gently; to percolate, as a liquid through the pores of a substance or through small openings. [ 1913 Webster ]

The latent rill, scare oozing through the grass. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: To leak (out) or escape slowly; as, the secret oozed out; his courage oozed out. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cause to ooze. Alex. Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

. Leather made from sheep and calf skins by mechanically forcing ooze through them; esp., such leather with a soft, finely granulated finish (called sometimes
velvet finish) put on the flesh side for special purposes. Ordinary ooze leather is used for shoe uppers, in bookbinding, etc. Hence
Ooze calf,
Ooze finish, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adj. leaking out slowly.
Syn. -- oozy, seeping. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. Gr. w, 'o`n an egg + zw^, on an animal. ] (Zool.) Same as Acrita. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Miry; containing soft mud; resembling ooze; as, the oozy bed of a river. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]