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petrol

petrol

35 1.4
A liquid fuel that cars use in their engines
  • noun
  • /ˈpɛtrəl/
  • UK
: gasolina
  • He filled the tank with petrol before starting the long journey.
  • a petrol station
  • petrol prices
  • petrol bombs

The car had run out of petrol and he said so.

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Examples

  • We need to stop at the petrol station to refuel the car.

  • The price of petrol has increased significantly this year.

  • The car had run out of petrol and he said so.

  • We are just having a quick petrol and food stop.

  • How much petrol do we have?

  • Has he only given you enough money and petrol to get to work and back home?

    Blog text (17)
  • I got it at the petrol garage.

  • I don't have the petrol.

  • We've got to get some petrol and boom, boom.

  • They've got planes, but not enough petrol for them to take off.

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

gas
vspetrol
  • US
∞ 1.0

A liquid fuel used in car engines

is the common non-regional term for that same engine fuel
fuel
vspetrol
∞ 1.0

A material burned to make energy for heat, light or engines

is a specific petroleum-derived liquid used mainly to power engines
gasolene
vspetrol
  • Archaic
219 3.8

A liquid that can burn and is used as fuel for cars and machines

is the same liquid but the linked form is an alternate spelling
gasoline
vspetrol
  • US
89 1.6

A liquid people put in cars to make the engine run

is the same substance but often named differently across English varieties

Compounds

5 3.2

A machine that burns petrol to make power for cars

3 1.0

A place where you buy petrol and fill your car

1 7.1

A bottle filled with petrol and a burning rag, thrown to start a fire

1 2.5

Petrol without added lead used to fuel cars

leaded petrol
  • Archaic
1 5.8

Fuel that contains a small amount of lead to stop engine knocking

1 2.4

A machine at a service station that pumps petrol into cars

1 2.7

A container in a vehicle that holds petrol or gasoline for the engine

1 3.2

A device in a vehicle that shows how much fuel is left in the tank

4.0

A device in a car that shows how much petrol is left

2.9

A pipe that carries fuel from the tank to the engine

Surface Forms

petrol singular
petrols plural
gasolines plural
gasoline singular

Etymology

Petrol comes from petroleum, a word that literally means 'rock oil' from the parts petro- 'rock' and -oleum 'oil'. So petrol is the oil from the earth used as fuel for car engines.