fuel
Americannoun
-
fuels
plural
-
combustible matter used to maintain fire, as coal, wood, oil, or gas, in order to create heat or power.
-
something that gives nourishment; food.
-
an energy source for engines, power plants, or reactors.
Kerosene is used as jet engine fuel.
-
something that sustains or encourages; stimulant.
Our discussion provided him with fuel for debate.
- Synonyms:
- stimulus, impetus, sustenance, ammunition
verb (used with object)
-
fuels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fueled,
past participle, past
-
fuelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
fueling,
present participle
-
fuelling
present participle (especially British)
verb (used without object)
-
fuels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fueled,
past participle, past
-
fuelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
fueling,
present participle
-
fuelling
present participle (especially British)
noun
-
any substance burned as a source of heat or power, such as coal or petrol
-
-
the material, containing a fissile substance, such as uranium-235, that produces energy in a nuclear reactor
-
a substance that releases energy in a fusion reactor
-
-
something that nourishes or builds up emotion, action, etc
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
fuelernoun
-
fuellernoun
-
defuelverb (used with object)
-
nonfueladjective
-
unfueledadjective
-
well-fueledadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
fuelsimple
-
fuelssimple
-
have fueledperfect
-
have fuelledperfect
-
has fueledperfect
-
has fuelledperfect
-
am fuelingprogressive
-
am fuellingprogressive
-
are fuelingprogressive
-
are fuellingprogressive
-
is fuelingprogressive
-
is fuellingprogressive
-
have been fuelingperfect progressive
-
have been fuellingperfect progressive
-
has been fuelingperfect progressive
-
has been fuellingperfect progressive
Past
-
fueledsimple
-
fuelledsimple
-
had fueledperfect
-
had fuelledperfect
-
was fuelingprogressive
-
was fuellingprogressive
-
were fuelingprogressive
-
were fuellingprogressive
-
had been fuelingperfect progressive
-
had been fuellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fuel
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English feuel, fuel(le), from Old French feuaile, from Vulgar Latin focālia (unrecorded), neuter plural of focālis (unrecorded) “of the hearth, fuel,” from Latin focus “hearth” ( see focus) + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
What do you and your car have in common? You both run on fuel. Whether its gasoline or nutritious food, fuel produces energy to get up and go. Fuel can also act as a verb that has several different meanings, all related to stimulating something or providing energy. Your brother might fuel up on whole-wheat bread with peanut butter a few hours before a big game. A teacher assigns readings to fuel meaningful class discussion. Memories of your mom's delicious dinners might fuel your desire to learn to cook.
Vocabulary lists containing fuel
Word Generation Science - Energy
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Engineering - Introductory
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Chemical Reactions - Introductory
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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:
Diesel fuel prices in the U.S. have jumped from an average of $3.68 a gallon a year ago to $6.32 on Friday, according to the AAA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
But before that, she had noticed the ship struggling with finances, asking passengers to pay additional fuel fees or cutting back on food.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
A mutated strain of influenza is helping fuel an early start to the flu season, prompting experts to urge Americans to get their shots ASAP.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Cost of living pressures have also increased, with inflation running at 3.7%, and fuel prices remain high.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Anxious to stabilize the spent fuel pools, operators ran four more helicopter flights on the evening of March 17, but radiation levels above the reactors were still too high.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
The EIA warns that switching fuels would not necessarily result in lower expenditures for every household.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
F1 will continue with fully sustainable fuels but with the ambition to make the requirements around them less complex and therefore much cheaper to produce.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
His vision for Africa and better grasp of the local markets over decades has helped him gain a competitive edge over foreign multinationals in fields like manufacturing and fossil fuels.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
In all, nearly 12% of the world’s refining capacity for making gasoline, diesel and other fuels is offline, according to market intelligence firm Industrial Info Resources, or IIR.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Since 2011, the country has focused on using other fuels to generate electricity, including coal and natural gas.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
Investor fears over tech stocks, fueled by shrinking cash flows at Intel and Amazon due to AI spending, outweighed the impact of the Binance hack.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
Newly hatched turtles then burst from the sand together and shuffle furiously to the sea, guided by moonlight reflecting off the water and fueled by a temporary external yolk sac.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
CEO David Goeckeler called out “robust and growing demand for our products,” which fueled “outpaced growth in our data-center business.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 29, 2026
Her commitment to finishing the job has been in question for more than a year, fueled in part by her own acknowledgments that she could quit early.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Not because the Gamemakers couldn't keep it fueled but because, again, that would invite accusations of boredom from the audience.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
He said he had a "gut feeling" that it was the best approach, but the team had insisted on a prep lap and had fuelled the car for the extra mileage.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
France, where the current wave of student protests kicked off in late September, fuelled by student complaints over staff shortages and dilapidated buildings, is a stand-out catalyst in Europe.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
Weeks of protests by high school students over learning conditions sparked a movement that has since spread nationwide, fuelled by broader anger over the rising cost of living.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026
Seoul and Tokyo were boosted as chipmakers and other key players in the AI buildout boom chalked up healthy gains, following a torrid few weeks fuelled by concerns about profitability and debt financing.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
They told a tale of progress fuelled by human brain power.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Also fueling the thirst for points: richer and richer programs, with banks increasingly competing to court big spenders with ultra-premium cards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
He started the game shooting five-for-five from the field and three-for-three from deep, scoring 16 points in nine minutes and fueling the Clippers’ 121-96 blowout win over the Kings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026
SpaceX’s rapid expansion of AI computing capacity is fueling revenue growth and raising the stakes for its ambitious 2027 building plans.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
For one, the AI narrative is what’s fueling SpaceX’s stock and underpinning upbeat forecasts.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
I think they're there to release pressure during the many quality checks done during construction and before fueling.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
The demonstration -- one of Serbia's largest in decades -- descended into panic after a mysterious noise sent crowds fleeing, fuelling claims that police had used a "sound cannon" -- an allegation authorities deny.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
But days later, the US Supreme Court struck down Trump's sweeping tariffs, fuelling uncertainty over when the agreement would take effect.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026
Holmes was convicted of defrauding investors in her medical testing company Theranos, fuelling a media circus that has been chronicled in books, podcasts and the mini-series The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
But broadcasters outside the UK can and do show those matches, fuelling pirated streams.
From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026
The schoolroom was perfumed with the smoke of peat, for it was the landward pupils' week of the fuelling, and they were accustomed to bring each his own peat under his arm every morning.
From Gilian The Dreamer His Fancy, His Love and Adventure by Neil Munro
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