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fuel oil

American  

noun

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


fuel oil British  

noun

  1. 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

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In April, exports rose 2.6 percent to $327.1 billion, fueled by crude oil, fuel oil and other petroleum products.

From Barron's Jun. 9, 2026

Cuba has completely run out of diesel and fuel oil, the country's energy minister Vicente de la O Levy has said.

From BBC May 14, 2026

Energy was up 18% from a year earlier; within that gasoline was up 28% and fuel oil jumped 54%.

From The Wall Street Journal May 12, 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

We spent weeks at the huge Shell Haven Refinery with a special instructor who taught us all about fuel oil and diesel oil and gas oil and lubricating oil and kerosene and gasoline.

From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl

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