fuel oil

American

noun

an oil used for fuel, especially one used as a substitute for coal, as crude petroleum.

fuel oil British

noun

a liquid petroleum product having a flash point above 37.8°C: used as a substitute for coal in industrial furnaces, domestic heaters, ships, and locomotives

"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

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.

New England consumers continue to face some of the nation’s highest winter energy prices while the region periodically turns to higher-emitting fuel oil and imported liquefied natural gas to meet demand.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

The government says it has run out of diesel and fuel oil needed to power the generators that supplement the electricity production of its dilapidated power plants.

From Barron's • May 18, 2026

The average price of very low-sulfur fuel oil has risen 70% to $925 per metric ton at the world’s top ports since the war started.

From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026

Prices for fuel oil jumped more than 30% in the biggest surge since February 2000.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2026

Near us, two sailors with axes chopped at lines, and two big life rafts plunged toward the water, which looked blade except for pools of fire from burning fuel oil.

From "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023