fossil fuels
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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.
The paper included 15 wedges, three of which involved some form of carbon capture and eight of which involved using traditional fossil fuels, though in more efficient, or less polluting, ways.
From Salon • Jun. 26, 2026
Scientists have shown that recurring heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming, and warn they are set to become more frequent, longer and more intense, driven by humans' burning of fossil fuels.
From Barron's • Jun. 23, 2026
"We can see in the numbers what people want - cheap cars and cars that will save them money, particularly as fossil fuels are volatile," she said.
From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026
UN chief Antonio Guterres called Tuesday for faster action on global warming, challenging AI firms to "come clean" about their environmental footprint and warning that fossil fuels were driving climate and energy crises.
From Barron's • Jun. 23, 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.
