refuel
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
refuelsimple
-
refuelssimple
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have refueledperfect
-
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 deepening economic crisis and lack of fuel recently forced several airlines—among them Air France and Air Canada—to suspend service to Cuba because they could no longer reliably refuel return flights.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
I stopped at two Erewhon locations on the way to refuel.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2026
Vance, who has been dispatched by Trump to lead the US delegation, stopped briefly in Paris for his plane to refuel before flying on to Pakistan.
From Barron's ● Apr. 11, 2026
One key feature is the ability to refuel in orbit.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026
Yelena replied that engineers weren’t allowed to refuel planes—the mechanics were supposed to do it.
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
Those ships were expensive to operate, and the reactors needed to be refueled more often than the reactors used in today’s aircraft carriers and submarines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 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
But the delay required the plane to be refueled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2025
As soon as the planes were refueled, Aleksandr and three other fighters took off to support the two young women who were already in the air.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
The trained massage therapist recalled during the Newsnight discussion that she gave Clinton a neck and back massage at an airport in Portugal while the plane refuelled.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
Tankers operating from Diego Garcia refuelled US B-2 bombers that had flown from the US to carry out the first airstrikes on Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2024
An Israeli defence ministry body said it had agreed to allow UN aid lorries to be refuelled following a request from the US government.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2023
Jaimie also sent me £40 and he refuelled the car for £11.01.
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2023
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 country hosted dozens of U.S. aircraft, including jet fighters and refueling planes, during the war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Israeli pilots learned to recognize the voices of their American counterparts refueling them in the air, pilots said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
If ultimately completed as designed, it would require complicated and still unproven in-orbit refueling.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
“In-orbit refueling is complex, and we have not yet demonstrated or attempted it,” the company said in the filing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Aside from the occasional refueling stopovers of Pan American World Airways planes, nothing interesting ever happened there.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
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
Experts are concerned about the slow pace of the development of Elon Musk's Starship lunar lander and the absence of any in-orbit refuelling tests.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
The reason was simple: the SpaceX Starship lander contracted to carry astronauts to the surface is not ready, and the in-orbit refuelling it depends on has never been demonstrated.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
With the airship rigidly held at the head of such a structure all the difficulties of changing crews, embarking and disembarking passengers, shipping and discharging cargo and also refuelling, vanish at once.
From British Airships, Past, Present, and Future by Whale, George
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.
