Basic Details
Word: Oil
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A thick, slippery liquid that does not mix with water. Some oils come from plants and are used in cooking; others come from under the ground and are used as fuel.
Synonyms: grease, petroleum
How to Spell Oil
Syllables: oil
Tricky part: The sound is written oi, as in coin and point. Oy is mostly kept for the end of a word, as in boy and toy, so oyl is wrong.
Watch out for: oyl, oile, oill
Memory tip: Oil sits at the end of boil, coil, foil and spoil, so if you can spell any of those you have already spelt oil.
Idioms and Phrases
- burn the midnight oil: To stay up late working or studying. Example: "Before the board exams, my brother burned the midnight oil every night."
- pour oil on troubled waters: To calm a quarrel. Example: "Mum poured oil on troubled waters when my sister and I argued."
Usage Examples
Example 1: Heat the oil before you add the mustard seeds.
Example 2: The mechanic checked the oil in our scooter.
Example 3: Dadi rubs coconut oil into her hair every Sunday.
Fun Fact
Coconut oil turns solid in cold weather, because it hardens below about 24 degrees Celsius.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Before frying the pakoras, my aunt heated two cups of mustard oyl in a heavy iron kadhai until it began to smoke.
a) oyl
b) heated
c) pakoras
d) mustard
Show answer
a) oyl. Oy usually closes a word, as in boy; inside a word, with l after it, the sound is written oi.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the meaning of the only correctly spelt word:
1. oil 2. lubricent 3. vineger 4. diesal
a) a heavy fuel used in many lorries and buses
b) a substance that helps moving parts run smoothly
c) a sour liquid used to pickle food
d) a thick, slippery liquid that does not mix with water
Show answer
d) a thick, slippery liquid that does not mix with water. Diesel, lubricant and vinegar each have one wrong vowel here; oil is spelt right.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word oil as it is used in the sentence:
The country earns most of its money by selling oil from its desert wells.
a) timber
b) petroleum
c) grain
d) water
Show answer
b) petroleum. Oil pumped from wells is petroleum, also called crude oil.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Oil and water do not mix because ____.
a) water dissolves oil very quickly
b) water contains too much salt
c) oil does not dissolve in water
d) oil is always hotter than water
Show answer
c) oil does not dissolve in water
2. Mustard oil is made by crushing mustard ____.
a) leaves
b) flowers
c) roots
d) seeds
Show answer
d) seeds
