fuel oil

fuel oil — noun

1. a thick, heavy oil refined from petroleum and burned in furnaces, boilers, and s

1.nounB2
Definition

a thick, heavy oil refined from petroleum and burned in furnaces, boilers, and ship engines to produce heat or power

Example

Gita's grandfather used fuel oil to heat the farmhouse during winter.

fuel oil + to heat — showing purpose

A large cargo ship burns thousands of litres of fuel oil every day at sea.

burns + fuel oil — verb collocation for consumption

Common collocations
  • burn fuel oil
  • run on fuel oil
  • fuel oil tank
  • fuel oil furnace
  • fuel oil boiler
  • fuel oil prices
Synonyms
  • heating oil

    a lighter grade of fuel oil used mainly in home heating systems

  • bunker fuel

    the heaviest and cheapest grade, used to power large ships

  • heavy oil

    a broader term covering fuel oil and other thick petroleum products

Grammar Patterns

fuel oil + for + noun

Usage Note

Fuel oil is much thicker and heavier than petrol or diesel. It usually needs to be warmed before it can flow through pipes and burn properly. In everyday English, people may call it 'heating oil' when it is used in homes.

Common Mistakes

The car runs on fuel oil.
The car runs on diesel (or petrol).
fuel oil is too heavy for most car engines; cars use lighter fuels like petrol or diesel.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Fuel oil is the heaviest of the common petroleum fuels. Diesel is lighter and runs car and truck engines. Kerosene is even lighter, often used in lamps and jet engines. Heating oil is very similar to diesel but is dyed and taxed differently for home use. Crude oil is the unrefined raw material — straight from the ground — from which all these fuels are made. Think of a refinery splitting crude oil into layers: the lightest becomes petrol, then kerosene, then diesel, and the thickest residue at the bottom is fuel oil.

diesel ↗kerosene ↗heating oilcrude oil ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • fuel oil tank
  • fuel oil furnace
  • fuel oil boiler
  • fuel oil prices
  • fuel oil supply

Phrases

  • a barrel of fuel oil
  • a litre of fuel oil

Prepositions

  • fuel oil for
  • run on fuel oil

Etymology

LatinGreekOld FrenchEnglish

The word 'fuel' comes from Old French fouaille, meaning 'material for burning', which traces back to Latin focus ('hearth'). 'Oil' comes from Latin oleum ('olive oil'), borrowed from Greek elaion. The combined term 'fuel oil' appeared in the 19th century as petroleum replaced coal and wood for industrial heating and shipping.

First known use

1893

1893, in the meaning defined above