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Synonyms

crude oil

American  

noun

  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.

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.

The study examined the difference between the price of crude oil and the price of fuel at the pump between January and February 2026, and the first three weeks of the war in March.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

Jet fuel, which is refined from crude oil, is among the biggest operating costs that airlines face.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

China, the biggest importer of crude oil in the world, has enough stockpiled to get it through the next few months.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

"The report shows that the rise in prices at the pump is far greater than that of underlying crude oil prices," Greenpeace said in a statement.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 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

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.