diesel
adjective
noting a machine or vehicle powered by a diesel engine.
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Diesmal.
diesel
1 American
[dee-zuhl, -suhl]
/ ˈdi zəl, -səl /
Or
Diesel
adjective
-
noting a machine or vehicle powered by a diesel engine.
diesel locomotive.
-
of or relating to a diesel engine.
diesel fuel.
Diesel
2
American
[dee-zuhl, -suhl]
/ ˈdi zəl, -səl /
noun
diesel
1
British
/ ˈdiːzəl /
noun
-
See diesel engine
-
a ship, locomotive, lorry, etc, driven by a diesel engine
-
informal short for diesel oil
-
slang any cola drink
spook and diesel
-
See suck
Diesel
2
British
/ ˈdiːzəl /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of diesel
After R. Diesel, the engine's inventor
Explanation
A diesel is a type of engine that produces enough heat to burn fuel and power a vehicle. Most diesels run on very thick, heavy oil. Large trucks use diesels — also known as diesel engines — and so do some cars, trains, and ships. The earliest diesel was developed in the late 19th century, and its invention is credited to the German engineer Rudolph Diesel, although other inventors laid the groundwork with their development of a very similar type of engine.
Vocabulary lists containing diesel
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Attacks on several large refineries in the Middle East squeezed global diesel and jet fuel supplies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and Chinese export restrictions added to the problem, and left the world about 1.6 million barrels of diesel a day short, the International Energy Agency said last month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
In the Northeast, diesel also comes out of the same refined-oil pool as the heating oil used to heat homes in the winter, Carpenter said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Although high gasoline and diesel prices drove about half of the September spike in inflation, "it's starting to spill into other areas," warned Heather Long, chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
That night, when the power went off, her generator would not come on, and she suspected that her driver, Ayo, had been sold diesel spiked with kerosene.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Diesel prices have soared even more, by 67.7 percent, boosting the cost of transporting goods and threatening further spillovers to consumers.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
Diesel prices at the pump rose to their highest level on record at $6.528 a gallon on Sept. 22, according to AAA.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Diesel fuelis used in trucks, farm implements and construction equipment, and its costs can be passed down to consumers through higher prices for groceries and other products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
Diesel topped $6 a gallon in September for the first time ever.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Diesel generators lit the new grove and the Golden Dawn field.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
Replacing the 200,000 buses with another round of health-hazardous diesels would cost between $60 billion to $80 billion; after accounting for rollout costs, full electric replacement would cost about 2.5 times as much.
From Salon ● May 23, 2024
According to the Corriere della Sera newspaper, the restrictions would have affected more than 600,000 vehicles, including about 140,000 Euro 5 diesels as well as other older more polluting vehicles, including petrol ones.
From Reuters ● Sep. 7, 2023
Had they been conventional diesels, they would have created a smelly cacophony as they idled.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 26, 2022
Rather, the agency says there are pollution control devices in development that can keep diesels in use and still clean the air.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2022
“She’s forty-six feet. Twin diesels, eight hundred horses.”
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
