refuel
Americanverb (used with object)
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refuels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
refueled,
past participle, past
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refuelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
refueling,
present participle
-
refuelling
present participle (especially British)
verb (used without object)
-
refuels,
present (3rd person singular)
-
refueled,
past participle, past
-
refuelled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
refueling,
present participle
-
refuelling
present participle (especially British)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
refuelsimple
-
refuelssimple
-
have refueledperfect
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have refuelledperfect
-
has refueledperfect
-
has refuelledperfect
-
am refuelingprogressive
-
am refuellingprogressive
-
are refuelingprogressive
-
are refuellingprogressive
-
is refuelingprogressive
-
is refuellingprogressive
-
have been refuelingperfect progressive
-
have been refuellingperfect progressive
-
has been refuelingperfect progressive
-
has been refuellingperfect progressive
Past
-
refueledsimple
-
refuelledsimple
-
had refueledperfect
-
had refuelledperfect
-
was refuelingprogressive
-
was refuellingprogressive
-
were refuelingprogressive
-
were refuellingprogressive
-
had been refuelingperfect progressive
-
had been refuellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of refuel
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:
The plane can be modified to refuel midair or withstand a nuclear blast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
One driver said it costs him $1,200 to refuel his truck every two days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
The rescuers worked against the clock to bring all the passengers to safety before the helicopters needed to refuel.
From BBC ● May 14, 2026
As gas prices soared in California last month, Irvine resident Marc Tan realized his Mercedes SUV was getting too expensive to refuel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
A truck was hurrying on its way to refuel the planes.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
“If you want to be a good business person, you figure it out. I used to be more relaxed about this,” said the 55-year-old, who refuels every other day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Before morning training he drinks eloctrolytes, and refuels afterwards with a banana and another protein shake.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2025
A customer refuels their vehicle at a Mobil gas station in Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood, California, U.S.,
From Reuters ● Jun. 11, 2022
At any given moment, seven of them are armed with nuclear warheads and discreetly traversing the Pacific Ocean while one refuels at Bangor.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 12, 2022
They'll never think to look for you in space, we can be together every trip while the ship refuels.
From The Love of Frank Nineteen by Knight, David Carpenter
The planes were refueled in flight three times so that the nuclear cargo wouldn’t need to spend time on foreign airfields before arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
You can’t blockade a reactor that only needs to be refueled every 18 months.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 16, 2026
Strikes are delivered by a combination of manned fighter jets and bombers from Boeing, Lockheed, and Northrop, all refueled mid-air by a fleet of hundreds of Boeing-made airborne tankers.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
The agency’s current plan requires SpaceX’s Starship to be refueled in space, a feat that has never been accomplished.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2025
We would have refueled the Volvo while hurding along at seventy-five miles per hour next to a moving convoy-refueling truck.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
And while it has the advantage that the bus can be refuelled in a matter of minutes rather than hours, that premium is now perceived as not worth paying.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
"If they had no nuclear cargo, they could have refuelled on the ground," he said, adding "that's a message".
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2025
It started with her car that he mostly drove but never refuelled.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2025
It could then be refuelled in orbit by a SpaceX 'tanker' - essentially another Ship without the windows - for its onward journey to Mars.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2024
Salt Lake City was beneath them almost before they knew it and when the plane landed there Janet and Helen got out to stretch their legs while the crews were changed and the plane refuelled.
From Janet Hardy in Radio City by Wheeler, Ruthe S.
The Air Force years ago decided to drop aerial refueling as a requirement in its next-generation Air Force One aircraft.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
In western Russia, the government of the Oryol region plans to allow fuel sales only to locally registered vehicles, with one refueling a week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Albertsons plans to air 15-second teasers on digital screens strategically placed in locations like its stores’ entrance areas, meat and seafood counters, and outdoor refueling stations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
If ultimately completed as designed, it would require complicated and still unproven in-orbit refueling.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
"Should Russia use the relatively simple and completely proven process of refueling in flight," he observed, "she would now have the capacity to deliver the bomb" into the American homeland.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Bulgaria's parliament voted to allow the United States to base refuelling planes in the country.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
US and German media reported that the cuts include a third of the 150 US F-16 and F-15 jets designated for NATO, plus refuelling and reconnaissance aircraft, bombers and drones.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
SpaceX also faces a major hurdle, Hubbard noted, over its goal of refuelling rockets in-orbit.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
The attacks hit standalone US bases and shared facilities with host nations in eight countries, causing millions of dollars of damage to state-of the-art air defence systems, refuelling aircraft and radars.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
We are ready now, sir, that is, as soon as we finish refuelling.
From The Victory At Sea by Hendrick, Burton J.
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.
