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:
Then the ice cream man returns to refuel his targeted customers, who try to convert our well-cast, engaging trio of young double-scoop holdouts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
"It's somewhere to rest, refuel and carry on."
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
SpaceX also aspires to refuel Starships in orbit, which would unlock the potential for many of the company’s—and Musk’s—more far-flung goals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
"I am afraid of taking long-distance passengers, as it is uncertain whether I will be able to refuel and return safely."
From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026
There, she would help refuel the Royal Air Force.
From "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor
“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 David Carpenter Knight
The Navy has designed its submarines and aircraft carriers to be nuclear powered so they don’t have to be refueled routinely like other warships, which require replenishment every four to seven days, Clark said.
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
At the Brentwood gas station, product manager Conner Uretsky, 30, waited as his partner refueled her Toyota Prius ahead of a trip to Palm Springs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
As their fuel ran low, they flew to the makeshift staging area at Toutle High School, refueled, and took off again.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
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
"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
Airlines are keen to know if hydrogen planes can be refuelled as quickly and current aircraft, as quick turnaround times are important for the industry.
From BBC ● Nov. 23, 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 Ruthe S. Wheeler
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
The U.S. is moving F-16 and F-35 warplanes into the region, and Bulgaria said the U.S. requested to deploy up to eight refueling tankers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
SpaceX is developing Starship to send large amounts of mass to deeper-space destinations using refueling operations it hasn’t tested yet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Reusing the upper stage enables new applications, such as orbital refueling of spacecraft, which will dramatically increase Starship’s range.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
However, those firsts would pale in comparison with Johnson's new assignment: The president wanted a plane that could fly high enough to avoid Soviet radar, and far enough to cross the Soviet Union without refueling.
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
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
In terms of the in-orbit refuelling, a March 2026 report from the US Government Accountability Office found that Elon Musk's SpaceX had made "limited progress" maturing the technology.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
Iranian strikes have also heavily hit US refuelling and surveillance aircraft at Prince Sultan Airbase in Saudi Arabia, expert analysis of satellite images show, with damaged aircraft and smoking craters clearly visible.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
We are ready now, sir, that is, as soon as we finish refuelling.
From The Victory At Sea by Burton J. Hendrick
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.
