petrol

petrol — noun

1. a liquid fuel made from crude oil and burned in many car and motorbike engines.

1.nounA2
Definition

a liquid fuel made from crude oil and burned in many car and motorbike engines.

Example

We stopped at the next petrol station before the road climbed into the hills.

petrol station

Nina checked the petrol gauge and saw only one bar left.

petrol gauge

Common collocations
  • petrol station
  • petrol tank
  • petrol gauge
  • run out of petrol
  • fill up with petrol
Synonyms
  • gasoline

    the standard American English word for the same fuel

  • gas

    informal American English; shorter and more conversational

  • fuel

    a broader word that can also mean diesel, gas, or other energy sources

Grammar Patterns

put petrol in [a car / tank]

run on petrol

fill up with petrol

Usage Note

Uncountable and chiefly British. American English normally uses 'gasoline' or informal 'gas'. Common in phrases such as 'petrol station', 'petrol tank', 'run out of petrol', and 'fill up with petrol'.

Common Mistakes

We need to buy a petrol before the trip.
We need to buy some petrol before the trip.
'petrol' is uncountable, so do not use 'a / an'.
My car uses gas.
My car uses petrol.
in British English, 'petrol' is the usual word for this fuel, while 'gas' often means a different fuel used at home.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Petrol' and 'gasoline' name the same liquid used in most car engines, but they belong to different varieties of English. 'Petrol' is the normal word in British English and many other places influenced by it. 'Gasoline' is the full American English term, while 'gas' is the everyday short form in conversation. 'Fuel' is much wider: it can mean petrol, diesel, gas, coal, or anything else that provides power. Because of that, 'fuel prices' is broader than 'petrol prices'. In writing for a British audience, say 'petrol station' and 'fill up with petrol'. In American English, the same ideas are usually 'gas station' and 'get gas'.

petrol ↗gasoline ↗gas ↗fuel ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • petrol station
  • petrol tank
  • petrol pump
  • petrol gauge
  • petrol price
  • petrol engine

Phrases

  • run out of petrol
  • fill up with petrol
  • put petrol in the car

Prepositions

  • on petrol
  • with petrol
  • of petrol

Etymology

Medieval LatinOld FrenchFrenchEnglish

English took 'petrol' from French 'pétrole'. That French word goes back to older forms meaning 'petroleum' or 'rock oil', and ultimately to Medieval Latin 'petroleum'. In modern English, 'petrol' became the usual British word for the refined fuel used in cars rather than for crude oil itself.