petrol

P3E1T1R1O1L1
/ˈpɛt.ɹəl/

noun

A fluid consisting of a mixture of refined petroleum hydrocarbons, primarily consisting of octane, commonly used as a motor fuel.

CommonScrabble 8

Meanings

nounpetrol (usually uncountable, plural petrols)

plural petrols

  1. Commonwealthuncountableusuallyexcluding CanadaA fluid consisting of a mixture of refined petroleum hydrocarbons, primarily consisting of octane, commonly used as a motor fuel.

    He also admitted that when big trucks bring in petrol, they park along Langata Road[…].

    2006 February 10, Kenya Gazette, page 354
    5 more examples

    1987 October 29, Advertisement, New Scientist, page 31, We were the first company to introduce unleaded petrol in Britain, opening our first pump in June 1986.

    2000 September 27, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 106th Congress, Second Session, Volume 146, Part 14, page 19605, European oil firms are beginning to follow the example of their American counterparts by adding convenience stores to their pumps: the typical American petrol station now makes some 40 percent of its profits from the sale of non-oil products, such as cigarettes and beer.

    2003, S. Srinivasan, Automotive Mechanics, Tata McGraw Hill, India, 2nd Edition, page 149, At a crank angle 6° before the TDC, the electric spark ignites the petrol mixture.

    2006 August, Economic Scenario, Pratiyogita Darpan, page 218, The increase in rates comes just a few days after India raised petrol prices by 9-2% and diesel prices by 6-6% which boosed inflation expectations in Indian economy.

    2008, Robin Stonecash, Joshua Gans, Stephen King, Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Macroeconomics, Cengage Learning Australia, page 122, Most major Australian cities receive their petrol from a single refinery.

  2. informaluncountableusuallyA motor vehicle powered by petrol (as opposed to diesel).

    However, I do feel entitled to criticise the car. There are lots of different versions: manuals and automatics; petrols and diesels; two-wheel drives and four-wheel drives, and it's possible to spend thirty grand on one.

    2016, Honest John, George Fowler, Car-tastrophes: 80 Automotive Atrocities from the past 20 years
verbpetrol (third-person singular simple present petrols, present participle (US) petroling or (UK) petrolling, simple past and past participle (US) petroled or (UK) petrolled)

present singular third person petrols · US participle present petroling · UK participle present petrolling · US participle past petroled · US past petroled · UK participle past petrolled · UK past petrolled

  1. datedtransitiveTo fill or supply (a vehicle, etc.) with petrol.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna volatile flammable mixture of hydrocarbons (hexane and heptane and octane etc.) derived from petroleum; used mainly as a fuel in internal-combustion engines

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekπετρέλαιον“oil of the rock”
  2. Medieval Latinpetroleum
  3. French(essence de) pétrole
  4. Englishpetrol

Borrowed from French (essence de) pétrole, from Medieval Latin petroleum, from Ancient Greek πετρέλαιον (petrélaion, “oil of the rock”), from πέτρα (pétra, “stone, rock”)+ ἔλαιον (élaion, “olive oil, any oily substance”). Doublet of petroleum.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

petrol. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petrol

MLA

“petrol.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petrol. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “petrol,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petrol.

Source: petrol on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.