Showing results for fuel oil. Search instead for fuel+oil.

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.

Thomas compared the situation to the fuel shocks of the 1970s, which helped advance the mass adoption of natural gas for heating instead of fuel oil and the doubling down of drilling for oil domestically.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026

We're already seeing some issues reported about fuel oil supplies.

From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026

An official in Rome told the BBC it also had 450 tonnes of fuel oil and 250 tonnes of diesel on board.

From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026

Energy Information Administration reports that national distillate fuel oil consumption is overwhelmingly concentrated in the transportation industry.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 3, 2026

Since 1945 this particular coastal area has been subjected to repeated sprayings with DDT dissolved in fuel oil.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

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