fossil fuels
CulturalDiscover More
All fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide when burned. (See greenhouse effect.)
Burning fossil fuels is a main cause of air pollution.
All of these fuels were formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago.
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.
El Niño began long before humans started burning fossil fuels.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
And using stored energy from both renewable and nonrenewable sources to meet high demand saves the expense and environmental impact of burning fossil fuels to ratchet up production.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Scientists estimate how much methane enters the atmosphere from sources such as wetlands, agriculture, fossil fuels and geological activity, then compare that with the amount removed through atmospheric chemistry and other processes.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
With more transport and industry switching from fossil fuels to electricity, batteries are likely to be a growth business.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
The nitrogen for the fields would no longer be made with the sun’s energy but with fossil fuels.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
![]()
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.