petrol
noun
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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:
Since July, Moscow has hit more than 200 petrol stations across, according to Ukrainian media.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
"The lines are starting to build up again. And notice that petrol prices aren't coming down -- they're actually going up."
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 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
Other types of pollution affecting England's bodies of water, the Environment Agency pointed to, include petrol, garden pesticides and contaminated water running off roads picking up microplastics.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
She stopped by the petrol station near the hospital and was not surprised to see the sign scrawled in chalk: NO PETROL.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
“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
"I don't know anyone in my circle of poor university grads that has been able to afford a full tank of petrol. I don't know anyone who doesn't regularly skip meals," says Ms Anwar.
From BBC ● May 1, 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
“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.
