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Synonyms

crude oil

American  

noun

  • crude oils
    plural
  1. petroleum as it comes from the ground, before refining.


crude oil British  

noun

  1. petroleum before it has been refined

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

crude oil Scientific  
/ kro̅o̅d /
  1. Unrefined petroleum.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of crude oil

First recorded in 1860–65

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:

A drone attack that heavily damaged one of Saudi Arabia’s pipelines is expected to cause crude oil exports to fall by 400,000 barrels per day this month alone.

From Salon Sep. 19, 2026

Investors are focusing on policy-related developments and crude oil prices.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 17, 2026

Until recently, Africa's largest crude oil producer had no refining capacity and had to import the finished product.

From BBC Sep. 17, 2026

The threat is serious because India imports more than 88% of its crude oil.

From BBC Sep. 17, 2026

A gasket blows five thousand feet underwater beneath an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana, sending millions of barrels of crude oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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