Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Fuel

Fu′el

,
Noun.
[OF.
fouail
,
fuail
, or
fouaille
,
fuaille
, LL.
focalium
,
focale
, fr. L.
focus
hearth, fireplace, in LL., fire. See
Focus
.]
[Formerly written also
fewel.
]
1.
Any matter used to produce heat by burning; that which feeds fire; combustible matter used for fires, as wood, coal, peat, etc.
2.
Anything that serves to feed or increase passion or excitement.
Artificial fuel
,
fuel consisting of small particles, as coal dust, sawdust, etc., consolidated into lumps or blocks.

Fu′el

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To feed with fuel.
[Obs.]
Never, alas I the dreadful name,
That
fuels
the infernal flame.
Cowley.
2.
To store or furnish with fuel or firing.
[Obs.]
Well watered and well
fueled
.
Sir H. Wotton.

Webster 1828 Edition


Fuel

FU'EL

,
Noun.
[L. focus.]
1.
Any matter which serves as aliment to fire; that which feeds fire; combustible matter, as wood, coal, peat, &c.
2.
Any thing that serves to feed or increase flame, heat or excitement.

FU'EL

, v.t.
1.
To feed with combustible matter.
Never, alas! the dreadful name, that fuels the infernal flame.
2.
To store with fuel or firing.

Definition 2024


fuel

fuel

See also: fül

English

fuel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Noun

fuel (countable and uncountable, plural fuels)

  1. Substance consumed to provide energy through combustion, or through chemical or nuclear reaction.
    • 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion:
      More than a mere source of Promethean sustenance to thwart the cold and cook one's meat, wood was quite simply mankind's first industrial and manufacturing fuel.
  2. Substance that provides nourishment for a living organism; food.
  3. (figuratively) Something that stimulates, encourages or maintains an action.
    His books were fuel for the revolution.
    Money is the fuel for economy.
    That film was nightmare fuel!

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

fuel (third-person singular simple present fuels, present participle fueling or fuelling, simple past and past participle fueled or fuelled)

  1. To provide with fuel.
  2. To exacerbate, to cause to grow or become greater.

Usage notes

  • Fuelled and fuelling are British, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand spellings. Fueled and fueling are US spellings.

Translations

Anagrams


French

Etymology

From English

Noun

fuel m (plural fuels)

  1. heating oil

See also


Spanish

Noun

fuel m (plural fueles)

  1. fuel oil