diesel
adjective
noting a machine or vehicle powered by a diesel engine.
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:
They are benefiting from what the industry calls a “crack spread” in which the price of oil has risen, but at a slower rate than the price of refined fuels including diesel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The problem that creates is what happens to trucking companies that use the dyed diesel once the temporary tax relief ends, he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
In the fields, the cost of diesel needed to run combines as farmers start harvesting soybeans, corn and other crops this month has skyrocketed more than 67 percent since February.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
That has effectively left the U.S. as the world’s last major fuel supplier and recently pushed domestic diesel prices to a record $6.53 a gallon on average.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Traffic was heavier, and the exhaust and the diesel fumes could not rise into the sky on that first gray day, but hung over everything.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
Diesel cost an average of $6.279 a gallon, after climbing to a record high at $6.528 on Sept. 22, according to AAA.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
Diesel hit a national average record of $6.528 a gallon in September, according to energy pricing specialists OPIS.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Diesel topped $6 a gallon in September for the first time ever.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Diesel prices in the U.S. and U.K. have hit record highs and refining margins are at unprecedented levels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
The air saturated with Diesel fumes burned in my lungs.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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
Pichetto Fratin said the government had ordered a review and update of regional anti-pollution plans, and that while this was pending, planned restrictions on Euro 5 diesels were temporarily suspended.
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
Renewable diesels are 40% to 50% cleaner than fossil fuels, even counting carbon to manufacture and deliver them, said Mark Chen, chief sustainability engineer for Skanska USA.
From Seattle Times ● May 31, 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.
