fuel
/ˈfjuːəl/US[ˈfjuwəɫ]
fuel noun: substance consumed to provide energy through combustion, or through chemical or nuclear reaction.
Noun
fuel (countable and uncountable, plural fuels)
- Substance consumed to provide energy through combustion, or through chemical or nuclear reaction.
- More than a mere source of Promethean sustenance to thwart the cold and cook one's meat, wood was quite simply mankind's first industrial and manufacturing fuel.2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion
- In a press release, CARB expanded on their decision. "The LCFS reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by setting a declining carbon intensity target for transportation fuels used in California; producers that don't meet established benchmarks buy credits from those that do. This system...2024 November 8, Luz Pena, “California's gas prices could have major increase with passing of new fuel standards”, in ABC7 News
- Substance that provides nourishment for a living organism; food.
- A little fuel to get down the mountain.2021 February 16, Charlie Berens and DudeDad, The 5 People on the Ski Slopes
- Something that stimulates, encourages or maintains an action.
- His books were fuel for the revolution.
- Money is the fuel for economy.
Verb
fuel (third-person singular simple present fuels, present participle (US) fueling or (UK) fuelling, simple past and past participle (US) fueled or (UK) fuelled)
- To provide with fuel.
- […] Lieutenant Hirsch appeared with a sheaf of signals in his hand. He took these from the young man and read them through. Mostly they dealt with routine matters of the fuelling and victualling, but one from the Third Naval Member’s office was unexpected.1957, Neville Shute, chapter 2, in On the Beach, New York: William Morrow & Co
- The workings now employ ten twin-units, which are fuelled at Hornsey but return to Cambridge diesel depot for their weekly maintenance; [...].1959 May, “Talking of Trains: By diesel m.u. to Moorgate”, in Trains Illustrated, page 235
- To exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater.
- There were times, during the first two years of the Biden presidency, when I came close to forgetting about it all: the taunts and the provocations; the incitements and the resentments; the disorchestrated reasoning; the verbal incontinence; the press conferences fueled by megalomania, vengeance...2023 December 8, Jennifer Senior, “What Will Happen to the American Psyche If Trump Is Reelected?”, in The Atlantic
- One detail that has fueled speculation for over a decade is the tyre tracks, which show the Highlander accelerated as it went down the embankment rather than braking.2026 July 18, Nicholas Muhoro, “Bryce Laspisa Vanished Near Castaic Lake After Spending 13 Hours Parked on a California Highway”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 19 Jul 2026
fuel meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
fuel in Hindi
- substance consumed to provide energy
- ईंधन īndhan, इंधन indhan
fuel in Tamil
- எரிபொருள், எரிபொருள் இடு, வினை வேகம் கூட்டு, தூண்டி விடு
fuel in Marathi
- इंधन, इंधनाचे
fuel in Urdu
- substance consumed to provide energy
- اِینْدھَن īndhan, بالَن bālan
More languagesFewer languages
- fuel in Bengali
- জ্বালানি jalani, ইন্ধন indhon
- fuel in Telugu
- ఇంధనము indhanamu
- fuel in Malayalam
- ഇന്ധനം indhanaṁ
- fuel in Kannada
- ಇಂಧನ indhana
- fuel in Punjabi
- ਬਾਲਣ, ਈਂਧਣ, ਈਂਧਨ
- fuel in Gujarati
- ઇંધણ, બળતણ
- fuel in Odia
- ଇନ୍ଧନ indhana
- fuel in Sanskrit
- इन्धन indhana, एध edha, समिन्धन samindhana
- fuel in Sinhala
- ඉන්ධන indhana
- fuel in Assamese
- ইন্ধন indhon
- fuel in Nepali
- इन्धन, ईन्धन
- fuel in Pashto
- بالڼ bāláṇ, سونګ song
- fuel in Tagalog
- panggatong, pampasiklab, gatong
- fuel in Arabic
- وَقُود waqūd
- fuel in Malay
- bahan api
- fuel in Indonesian
- bahan bakar
- fuel in Thai
- เชื้อเพลิง chʉ́ʉa-pləəng, เชื้อไฟ chʉ́ʉa-fai
- fuel in Vietnamese
- nhiên liệu
- fuel in Myanmar
- လောင်စာ laungca
- Sindhi
- ٻارڻُ baarann-u
Examples of fuel in a sentence
- That film was nightmare fuel!
- Small arms ammunition is the fuel that keeps many of the world’s conflicts raging.2006 June 15, “Ammunition: the fuel of conflict”, in Oxfam International:
- For fueling the cookfires and all that rot."2005, Harry Turtledove, Alternate Generals III, unnumbered page:
Forms of fuel
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | fuels |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | fuels |
| present participle US | fueling |
| present participle UK | fuelling |
| past participle US | fueled |
| past US | fueled |
| past participle UK | fuelled |
| past UK | fuelled |
Origin of fuel
From Middle English fuayle, from Old French fouaille, feuaille (“firewood, kindling”), from feu (“fire”), from Late Latin focus (“fire”), from Latin focus (“hearth”), whence English focus. Cognate with Spanish fuego (“fire”), and Portuguese fogo (“fire”).
Words formed from fuel
- add fuel to fire
- add fuel to the fire
- add fuel to the flame
- agrofuel
- alternative fuel
- aviation fuel
- biofuel
- biological fuel cell
- bunker fuel
- caramel fuel
- defuel
- diesel fuel
- e-fuel
- electrofuel
- enzymatic fuel cell
- flash fuel
- flash fuelcell vehicle
- flex-fuel
- fossil fuel
- fuel cap
- fuel cell
- fueldraulic
- fuel duty
- fuel economy
- fueler
- fuel filter
- fuel gauge
- fuelie
- fuel injection
- fuel injector
- fuelish
- fuelless
- fuel line
- fuel load
- fuel molecule
- fuel-poor
- fuel poverty
- fuel provider
- fuel pump
- fuel rod
- fuel station
- fuel supplier
- fuel tank
- fuel tourism
- fuel up
- fuelwood
- geofuel
- hog fuel
- interfuel
- jet fuel
- lifefuel
- microbial fuel cell
- monofuel
- multifuel
- nightmare fuel
- nonfuel
- nuclear fuel
- one-hour fuel
- oxyfuel
- patent fuel
Phrases with fuel
- fuel oil
- sui fuel
- top fuel
- fuel caps
- fuel oils
- fuel rods
- fuel cells
- fuel lines
- fuel loads
- fuel pumps
- fuel tanks
- fuel duties
29 more phrasesFewer phrases
- fuel gauges
- fuel filters
- fuel stations
- sailboat fuel
- fuel economies
- fuel injectors
- fuel molecules
- fuel providers
- fuel suppliers
- adds fuel to fire
- fuel cell vehicle
- added fuel to fire
- fuel cell vehicles
- adding fuel to fire
- enzymatic fuel cells
- microbial fuel cells
- adds fuel to the fire
- biological fuel cells
- pour fuel on the fire
- added fuel to the fire
- adds fuel to the flame
- pours fuel on the fire
- added fuel to the flame
- adding fuel to the fire
- poured fuel on the fire
- adding fuel to the flame
- pouring fuel on the fire
- specific fuel consumption
- specific fuel consumptions
Words that rhyme with fuel
Questions about fuel
- What does fuel mean?
- Fuel means substance consumed to provide energy through combustion, or through chemical or nuclear reaction.
- What is fuel in Hindi?
- Fuel in Hindi is ईंधन (īndhan), इंधन (indhan). See Fuel meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use fuel in a sentence?
- That film was nightmare fuel!
- What part of speech is fuel?
- Fuel can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce fuel?
- Fuel is pronounced /ˈfjuːəl/.
- What is the plural of fuel?
- The plural of fuel is fuels.
Words near fuel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fuel (page history and authors); fuel (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); fuel (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ఇంధనము (Telugu) (page history and authors); ಇಂಧನ (Kannada) (page history and authors); fuel (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); fuel (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); fuel (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-fuel.ogg.
Cite this entry: “fuel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fuel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.