noun · verb · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈfjuːəl/
/ˈfjuːl/
US:[ˈfjuwəɫ]
UK:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -uːəl
rhymes with -uːl
CMU ARPABET:F Y UW1 AH0 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:F Y UW1 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Substance consumed to provide energy through combustion, or through chemical or nuclear reaction.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Substance that provides nourishment for a living organism; food.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
Something that stimulates, encourages or maintains an action.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, figuratively, uncountable
Examples
His books were fuel for the revolution.
Money is the fuel for economy.
That film was nightmare fuel!
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
verb
Meaning 4
To provide with fuel.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
verb
Meaning 5
To exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
a substance that can be consumed to produce energy
provide with a combustible substance that provides energy
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
fuel aircraft, ships, and cars
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: supply, provide, render, furnish
Narrower terms: gas up, refuel, bunker
10
verb
Meaning 10
provide with fuel
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
Oil fires the furnace
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: fire
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: supply, provide, render, furnish
History
Etymology
From Middle English fuayle, from Old French fouaille, feuaille (“firewood, kindling”), from feu (“fire”), from Late Latin focus (“fire”), from Latin focus (“hearth”), whence English focus. Cognate with Spanish fuego (“fire”), and Portuguese fogo (“fire”).
Across languages
Translations
154 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
karburant
— substance consumed to provide energy
Southern Altai:
одырар неме
(odïrar neme)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Arabic:
وَقُود
(waqūd)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Armenian:
վառելիք
(vaṙelikʻ)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Assamese:
ইন্ধন
(indhon)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Azerbaijani:
yanacaq
— substance consumed to provide energy
Bashkir:
яғыулыҡ
(yağıwlıq)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Basque:
erregai
— substance consumed to provide energy
Belarusian:
па́ліва
(páliva)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Bengali:
জ্বালানি
(jalani)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Bengali:
ইন্ধন
(indhon)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Bulgarian:
го́риво
(górivo)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Burmese:
လောင်စာ
(laungca)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Catalan:
carburant
— substance consumed to provide energy
Catalan:
combustible
— substance consumed to provide energy
Chinese Mandarin:
燃料
(ránliào)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Czech:
palivo
— substance consumed to provide energy
Danish:
brændstof
— substance consumed to provide energy
Danish:
brændsel
— substance consumed to provide energy
Dutch:
brandstof
— substance consumed to provide energy
Esperanto:
brulaĵo
— substance consumed to provide energy
Estonian:
kütus
— substance consumed to provide energy
Finnish:
polttoaine
— substance consumed to provide energy
French:
carburant
— substance consumed to provide energy
French:
combustible
— substance consumed to provide energy
West-Frisian:
brânstof
— substance consumed to provide energy
Georgian:
საწვავი
(sac̣vavi)
— substance consumed to provide energy
German:
Brennstoff
— substance consumed to provide energy
German:
Treibstoff
— substance consumed to provide energy
Greek:
καύσιμο
(káfsimo)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Hebrew:
דֶּלֶק
(délek)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Hindi:
ईंधन
(īndhan)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Hindi:
इंधन
(indhan)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Hungarian:
tüzelőanyag
— substance consumed to provide energy
Hungarian:
üzemanyag
— substance consumed to provide energy
Icelandic:
eldsneyti
— substance consumed to provide energy
Ido:
fuelo
— substance consumed to provide energy
Ido:
kombusteblajo
— substance consumed to provide energy
Ido:
karburanto
— substance consumed to provide energy
Indonesian:
bahan bakar
— substance consumed to provide energy
Interlingua:
combustibile
— substance consumed to provide energy
Irish:
breosla
— substance consumed to provide energy
Italian:
carburante
— substance consumed to provide energy
Italian:
combustibile
— substance consumed to provide energy
Japanese:
燃料
(nenryō)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Kazakh:
отын
(otyn)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Kazakh:
жанармай
(janarmai)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Khmer:
ឥន្ធនៈ
(ʼənthĕəʼnĕəʼ)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Khmer:
សមិន្ធន៍
(saʼmɨn)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Korean:
연료
(yeollyo)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Northern Kurdish:
sotemenî
— substance consumed to provide energy
Kyrgyz:
отун
(otun)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Lao:
ເຊື້ອໄຟ
(sư̄a fai)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Latvian:
kurināmais
— substance consumed to provide energy
Lithuanian:
kuras
— substance consumed to provide energy
Macedonian:
гориво
(gorivo)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Macedonian:
огрев
(ogrev)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Malay:
bahan api
— substance consumed to provide energy
Malayalam:
ഇന്ധനം
(indhanaṁ)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Māori:
kora
— substance consumed to provide energy
Middle English:
fuayle
— substance consumed to provide energy
Mongolian:
түлш
(tülš)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Norwegian Bokmål:
brennstoff
— substance consumed to provide energy
Norwegian Bokmål:
brensel
— substance consumed to provide energy
Norwegian Bokmål:
drivstoff
— substance consumed to provide energy
Norwegian Nynorsk:
brennstoff
— substance consumed to provide energy
Norwegian Nynorsk:
brensel
— substance consumed to provide energy
Norwegian Nynorsk:
drivstoff
— substance consumed to provide energy
Odia:
ଇନ୍ଧନ
(indhana)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Oromo:
boba'aa
— substance consumed to provide energy
Pali:
indhana
— substance consumed to provide energy
Pannonian Rusyn:
гориво
(horivo)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Pashto:
بالڼ
(bāláṇ)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Pashto:
سونګ
(song)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Dari:
سوخْت
(sōxt)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Iranian Persian:
سوخْت
(suxt)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Plautdietsch:
Brennstoff
— substance consumed to provide energy
Polish:
paliwo
— substance consumed to provide energy
Portuguese:
combustível
— substance consumed to provide energy
Romanian:
combustibil
— substance consumed to provide energy
Romanian:
carburant
— substance consumed to provide energy
Russian:
то́пливо
(tóplivo)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Russian:
горю́чее
(gorjúčeje)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Sanskrit:
इन्धन
(indhana)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Sanskrit:
एध
(edha)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Sanskrit:
समिन्धन
(samindhana)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Savosavo:
fiuli
— substance consumed to provide energy
Scottish Gaelic:
connadh
— substance consumed to provide energy
Serbo-Croatian:
го̏рӣво
— substance consumed to provide energy
Serbo-Croatian:
огрев
— substance consumed to provide energy
Serbo-Croatian:
gȍrīvo
— substance consumed to provide energy
Serbo-Croatian:
ogrev
— substance consumed to provide energy
Sindhi:
ٻارڻُ
(baarann-u)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Sinhalese:
ඉන්ධන
(indhana)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Slovak:
palivo
— substance consumed to provide energy
Slovene:
gorivo
— substance consumed to provide energy
Spanish:
combustible
— substance consumed to provide energy
Spanish:
lumbre
— substance consumed to provide energy
Sundanese:
suluh
— substance consumed to provide energy
Swedish:
bränsle
— substance consumed to provide energy
Tagalog:
panggatong
— substance consumed to provide energy
Tagalog:
pampasiklab
— substance consumed to provide energy
Tagalog:
gatong
— substance consumed to provide energy
Tajik:
сӯзишворӣ
(süzišvori)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Tajik:
сухт
(suxt)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Tatar:
ягулык
(yağulıq)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Thai:
เชื้อเพลิง
(chʉ́ʉa-pləəng)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Thai:
เชื้อไฟ
(chʉ́ʉa-fai)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Turkish:
yakıt
— substance consumed to provide energy
Turkmen:
ýag
— substance consumed to provide energy
Ukrainian:
па́ливо
(pályvo)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Urdu:
اِینْدھَن
(īndhan)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Urdu:
بالَن
(bālan)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Uyghur:
يېقىلغۇ
(yëqilghu)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Uzbek:
yoqilgʻi
— substance consumed to provide energy
Vietnamese:
nhiên liệu
— substance consumed to provide energy
Volapük:
filamastöf
— substance consumed to provide energy
Welsh:
tanwydd
— substance consumed to provide energy
Yiddish:
ברענשטאָף
(brenshtof)
— substance consumed to provide energy
Zazaki:
veşenek
— substance consumed to provide energy
Zazaki:
veşenge
— substance consumed to provide energy
Finnish:
ravinto
— substance that provides nourishment
Greek:
τροφή
(trofí)
— substance that provides nourishment
Italian:
rifornimento
— substance that provides nourishment
Finnish:
käyttövoima
— figurative: something that stimulates
Bulgarian:
зареждам
(zareždam)
— to provide with fuel
Dutch:
tanken
— to provide with fuel
Finnish:
tankata
— to provide with fuel
Finnish:
täyttää polttoaineella
— to provide with fuel
German:
betanken
— to provide with fuel
Italian:
rifornire
— to provide with fuel
Polish:
tankować
— to provide with fuel
Polish:
podsycać
— to provide with fuel
Portuguese:
abastecer
— to provide with fuel
Slovak:
tankovať
— to provide with fuel
Spanish:
abastecer
— to provide with fuel
Spanish:
repostar
— to provide with fuel
Turkish:
doldurmak
— to provide with fuel
Ukrainian:
заправля́ти
(zapravljáty)
— to provide with fuel
Ukrainian:
запра́вити
(zaprávyty)
— to provide with fuel
Chinese Mandarin:
加強 /加强
(jiāqiáng)
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
Chinese Mandarin:
激起
(jīqǐ)
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
Chinese Mandarin:
刺激
(cìjī)
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
Chinese Mandarin:
激化
(jīhuà)
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
French:
alimenter
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
French:
attiser
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
German:
anheizen
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
German:
schüren
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
Italian:
alimentare
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
Italian:
fomentare
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
Polish:
podsycać
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
Polish:
napędzać
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
Portuguese:
atiçar
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
Portuguese:
incitar
— to exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater
