Library / English Dictionary

FUEL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: fuelled    , fuelling   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A substance that can be consumed to produce energy

Example:

they developed alternative fuels for aircraft

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("fuel" is a kind of...):

substance (a particular kind or species of matter with uniform properties)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fuel"):

igniter; ignitor; lighter (a substance used to ignite or kindle a fire)

firewood (wood used for fuel)

water gas (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide with small amounts of other gases; made by blowing steam over hot coke or coal)

combustible; combustible material (a substance that can be burned to provide heat or power)

red fire (combustible material (usually salts of lithium or strontium) that burns bright red; used in flares and fireworks)

propane (colorless gas found in natural gas and petroleum; used as a fuel)

nuclear fuel (fuel (such as uranium) that can be used in nuclear reactors as a source of electricity)

methanol; methyl alcohol; wood alcohol; wood spirit (a light volatile flammable poisonous liquid alcohol; used as an antifreeze and solvent and fuel and as a denaturant for ethyl alcohol)

coal oil; kerosene; kerosine; lamp oil (a flammable hydrocarbon oil used as fuel in lamps and heaters)

illuminant (something that can serve as a source of light)

gas; gasolene; gasoline; petrol (a volatile flammable mixture of hydrocarbons (hexane and heptane and octane etc.) derived from petroleum; used mainly as a fuel in internal-combustion engines)

gasohol (a gasoline substitute consisting of 90% gasoline and 10% grain alcohol from corn)

fuel oil; heating oil (a petroleum product used for fuel)

fossil fuel (fuel consisting of the remains of organisms preserved in rocks in the earth's crust with high carbon and hydrogen content)

fire (fuel that is burning and is used as a means for cooking)

diesel fuel; diesel oil (a heavy mineral oil used as fuel in diesel engines)

coke (carbon fuel produced by distillation of coal)

coal gas (gaseous mixture produced by distillation of bituminous coal and used for heating and lighting)

charcoal; wood coal (a carbonaceous material obtained by heating wood or other organic matter in the absence of air)

butane (occurs in natural gas; used in the manufacture of rubber and fuels)

biomass (plant materials and animal waste used as fuel)

Derivation:

fuel (take in fuel, as of a ship)

fuel (provide with a combustible substance that provides energy)

fuel (provide with fuel)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Stimulate

Example:

fuel the debate on creationism

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "fuel" is one way to...):

excite; shake; shake up; stimulate; stir (stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take in fuel, as of a ship

Example:

The tanker fueled in Bahrain

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "fuel" is one way to...):

take in; take up (accept)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fuel"):

refuel (take on more fuel, as of a plane, ship, or car)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

fuel (a substance that can be consumed to produce energy)

fueling (the activity of supplying or taking on fuel)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Provide with a combustible substance that provides energy

Example:

fuel aircraft, ships, and cars

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "fuel" is one way to...):

furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fuel"):

gas up (fill with gasoline)

refuel (provide with additional fuel, as of aircraft, ships, and cars)

bunker (fill (a ship's bunker) with coal or oil)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

fuel (a substance that can be consumed to produce energy)

fueling (the activity of supplying or taking on fuel)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Provide with fuel

Example:

Oil fires the furnace

Synonyms:

fire; fuel

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "fuel" is one way to...):

furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

fuel (a substance that can be consumed to produce energy)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The South Korean government has recently announced plans for 16,000 more hydrogen-fueled cars and 310 special refilling stations.

(Cars Powered by New Fuel Type Tested in Australia, VOA)

That which is consumed to fuel necessary life processes of an organism.

(Nutrition, NCI Thesaurus)

At first they melted as soon as they came in contact with the earth, but ever more fell, covering the ground, putting out the fire, spoiling his supply of moss-fuel.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Your body can use this fuel right away, or it can store the energy in your body tissues, such as your liver, muscles, and body fat.

(Metabolic Disorders, NIH)

Nitromethane is used to make industrial antimicrobials and pharmaceuticals, and is also used as a soil fumigant and as a fuel in race car engines.

(Nitromethane, NCI Thesaurus)

Third, the nutrients travel through the bloodstream to different parts of the body where they are used as "fuel" and for many other purposes.

(Nutrition, NCI Dictionary)

I renewed the fuel, re-arranged the bedclothes, gazed awhile on her who could not now gaze on me, and then I moved away to the window.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The bushfires, which are among the worst in the country’s history, have been fuelled by record temperatures — 41.9 °C on 17 December — and several months of intense droughts.

(Australian bushfire smoke drifts to South America, SciDev.Net)

The sun is our nearest star — a gigantic nuclear reactor that burns about 5 million tons of hydrogen fuel every second.

(Newest solar telescope produces first images, National Science Foundation)

Dibenzo[a,e]pyrene is primarily found in gasoline exhaust, tobacco smoke and fossil fuels.

(Dibenzo[a,e]pyrene, NCI Thesaurus)