oil slick
noun
: a film of oil floating on water
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web According to accounts the investigators pieced together, the blimp had dropped two smoke flares over the oil slick to mark its location, then rose to a higher altitude. 
Greg Daugherty, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Aug. 2022 The largest total oil slick areas were detected in the Java Sea (between several islands of Indonesia), Mediterranean Sea and South China Sea. Sasha Warren, Scientific American, 16 June 2022 An oil slick believed to have originated from a pipeline leak has hit Huntington Beach, closing a stretch of beach and raising grave wildlife and environmental concerns. Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2021 Some experts are concerned that winds and rain over the Orange County oil spill could contribute to choppy oceans and smear-spreading gusts, which could hamper cleanup efforts and make the oil slick grow. Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2021 Officials are investigating an oil slick in Huntington Beach, Calif., after a sheen was reported Saturday afternoon, possibly the second spill there in two months. Washington Post, 20 Nov. 2021 Most of the oil had formed a thin film rather than a thick oil slick, navy spokesman Vice Admiral Pokkrong Monthatphalin told reporters, citing aerial photographs. CNN, 30 Jan. 2022 Trying to peg gas pump prices is like keeping an oil slick from spreading. orlandosentinel.com, 8 Apr. 2022 The edges of the oil slick reach the Louisiana shore. CNN, 20 Feb. 2022 See More
Greg Daugherty, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Aug. 2022 The largest total oil slick areas were detected in the Java Sea (between several islands of Indonesia), Mediterranean Sea and South China Sea. Sasha Warren, Scientific American, 16 June 2022 An oil slick believed to have originated from a pipeline leak has hit Huntington Beach, closing a stretch of beach and raising grave wildlife and environmental concerns. Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2021 Some experts are concerned that winds and rain over the Orange County oil spill could contribute to choppy oceans and smear-spreading gusts, which could hamper cleanup efforts and make the oil slick grow. Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2021 Officials are investigating an oil slick in Huntington Beach, Calif., after a sheen was reported Saturday afternoon, possibly the second spill there in two months. Washington Post, 20 Nov. 2021 Most of the oil had formed a thin film rather than a thick oil slick, navy spokesman Vice Admiral Pokkrong Monthatphalin told reporters, citing aerial photographs. CNN, 30 Jan. 2022 Trying to peg gas pump prices is like keeping an oil slick from spreading. orlandosentinel.com, 8 Apr. 2022 The edges of the oil slick reach the Louisiana shore. CNN, 20 Feb. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1887, in the meaning defined above