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)
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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
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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
The plane can be modified to refuel midair, or withstand a nuclear blast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
While viewers in the UK watching on BBC and ITV are seeing players refuel and hearing extra tactical insight from pundits, spectators elsewhere are taken away from the football to see companies selling their products.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
I stopped at two Erewhon locations on the way to refuel.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2026
Masha Dolina, who’d been slowly struggling between snowstorms to make her own way to the 587th’s new air base with her navigator and gunner, had stopped to refuel.
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
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
Boeing touts the aircraft as its most state-of-the-art refueling tanker, equipped with advanced sensors and capable of carrying cargo and passengers as it refuels other planes.
From Reuters ● Nov. 1, 2021
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 David Carpenter Knight
Its long range, ability to be refueled mid-flight and capacity to carry large payloads have made it crucial in past U.S. wars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
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
Afterward the Scot stood quivering on the runway with gritted teeth while the aircraft was refueled and the Branston ground crew chatted with the ferry pilots.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
"Everything I want done, I want done yesterday," she said in a recent interview on the campaign trail, where she reputedly refuelled by peeling hard-boiled eggs.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
They took control and forced the plane to divert to Libya, where it refuelled.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Starship is so heavy that it cannot reach the Moon withot being refuelled in Earth orbit first.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
Once he is adequately refuelled, Mahamed will sleep for an hour or two and then wake for more food at about 4am, before returning to bed to top up on sleep.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
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 Ruthe S. Wheeler
He then pretended to board the old Air Force One, only to secretly switch planes by hiding in a refueling truck, due to security threats.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
This includes explaining the rising cost of doing business to his customers, avoiding refueling in California where possible and using alternative fuels to power air conditioning in trucks overnight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker — a refueling and airlift plane — crashed over Western Iraq without being attacked, resulting in the death of six more U.S. service members, Central Command announced.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Some also serve as emergency airfields or refueling points for planes making their way across the Pacific.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
We were due to go to Ireland next, and before crossing the Atlantic, our plane, a small jet, stopped for refueling in a remote place above the Arctic Circle called Goose Bay.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Bulgaria's parliament voted to allow the United States to base refuelling planes in the country.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
The Revolutionary Guards said they had also destroyed "the logistical support centres for naval vessels and the refuelling facilities for US aircraft carriers at the port of Duqm in Oman".
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 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
The possibility was considered of carrying a small airship on board a ship which should carry out patrol and return to the ship for refuelling purposes, to replenish gas, and change her crew.
From British Airships, Past, Present, and Future by George Whale
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.
