petrol
noun
petrol
1 American
[pe-truhl]
/ ˈpɛ trəl /
petrol.
2
American
abbreviation
petrol.
1
British
abbreviation
petrol
2
British
/ ˈpɛtrəl /
noun
Etymology
Origin of petrol
1590–1600; < Middle French petrole < Medieval Latin petroleum petroleum
Explanation
Petrol is a fuel derived from petroleum. If you are American, you probably call petrol "gas." When the price of petrol goes up, lots of people complain, because petrol is gasoline. Petrol is the fuel used in many types of vehicles, including cars, motorcycles, motorboats, and airplanes. Petrol is derived from petroleum, and besides smelling bad, it's very flammable. If you light a match near petrol, there will be an explosion. Since petrol comes from petroleum, petrol is a fossil fuel.
Vocabulary lists containing petrol
Boy: Tales of Childhood
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Ten Words from New York Times History - Japan Surrenders - August 14, 1945
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The Grand Escape
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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:
Taxi driver, Nursultan Akhmadov from Kyrgyzstan, said the petrol woes added to the rising cost of living in Russia.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Vicki said she had yet to come across a counterfeit squishy toy, but has seen warnings from parents about a "very strong petrol smell" coming from them.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
People in Iran said they are limiting spending to essentials such as food, petrol and medicine, dropping meat from their diets, and buying staples one item at a time as their wages lose value.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Mathipa and Tebogo arranged to meet at a petrol station in Pretoria.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
My mom was furious with him because he’d cost us a whole tank of petrol, which was enough to get us to work and school for two weeks.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
“We are appealing to the government to intervene in the ever-increasing price of food and petrol. We cannot even afford to pay for transport.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 24, 2022
"Eating and petrol. That's what I use the money for," says Zach.
From BBC ● May 13, 2022
"Of course it's a huge problem to get ambulances in a war zone, a huge problem to get petrol. The ambulances are often partly falling apart and we have to keep finding solutions," he said.
From Reuters ● Apr. 4, 2022
The Daily Express tells its readers that, as a consequence, they could soon be paying £1.42 a litre for petrol. that rising prices could undermine the global economic recovery.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2011
“She calls gasoline petrol. A motorcycle is a motorbike and a truck, a lorry.”
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
There was Mrs. Spankham with a superb model of Westminster Abbey—its petrolling had been the greatest stroke in convincing the voters of the pure motives of the feminists.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, March 11, 1914 by Sir Owen Seaman
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.
