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fuel oil
noun
: an oil that is used for fuel and that usually has a higher flash point than kerosene
Examples of fuel oil in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The ship, owned by American Petroleum Transport Corp., was en route from Corpus Christi, Texas to New York with a cargo of 80,000 barrels of fuel oil, gasoline and naphtha when it was struck by a torpedo.
—Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 13 May 2024
The bridge sustained minor damage, but the ship spilled more than 50,000 gallons of fuel oil into the bay.
—Joel Rose, NPR, 2 May 2024
Because much to chagrin of environmentalists, market advocates claim an increase in LNG exports to emerging markets helps lower their usage of coal and fuel oil widely regarded as dirtier fossil fuels.
—Gaurav Sharma, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
The first is that New England states burn billions of gallons of fuel oil because new natural gas pipelines have been shut out of these states.
—Ed Hirs, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024
At the border in Ivangorod, spikes of barbed wire pierced the azure sky and smoke from burning fuel oil rose from the chimneys of the customs building.
—Vadim Smyslov, WIRED, 21 Feb. 2024
Nearly all of it is enabled by burning heavy fuel oil, but that is beginning to change.
—Cara Buckley, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2023
To give an example, an Exxon refinery in Singapore used to produce fuel oil that sold for $10 per barrel below the price of Brent crude, but after a recent upgrade, the facility produces lubricant base stocks that sell for $50 above Brent.
—Kevin Crowley, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2023
The Post could not determine the precise amount of Russian-origin fuel oil in the products the Pentagon purchases.
—Jonathan O'Connell, Washington Post, 4 Dec. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fuel oil.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1893, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near fuel oil
Cite this Entry
“Fuel oil.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fuel%20oil. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
Kids Definition
fuel oil
noun
: an oil that is used for fuel and that usually ignites at a higher temperature than kerosene
More from Merriam-Webster on fuel oil
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fuel oil
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