refuel

refuel — verb

1. to add fuel to a car, plane, or ship on a trip so it can get to where it is head

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB1
Definition

to add fuel to a car, plane, or ship on a trip so it can get to where it is heading.

Example

Sayaka landed the plane in Mumbai to refuel before continuing to Tokyo.

infinitive of purpose: to refuel before + -ing

The cargo ship refueled at the port of Durban before heading to Cape Town.

Common collocations
  • refuel at [airport/port/station]
  • stop to refuel
  • refuel before [journey/flight]
  • need to refuel
Synonyms
  • fuel up

    more informal; common in everyday driving contexts

  • fill up

    informal; primarily for cars at a petrol station; implies filling the tank completely

Grammar Patterns

refuel + noun phrase

refuel (no object)

Usage Note

Can be used transitively (refuel a vehicle) or intransitively (the plane refuels). The intransitive form is especially common when describing travel routes or schedules.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All three expressions describe putting fuel into a vehicle, but they differ in formality and scope. 'Refuel' is the most neutral and widely used across all vehicle types (planes, ships, cars) and in both formal and informal writing. 'Fuel up' is more informal and typically used for cars or personal vehicles, often with a sense of preparing for an activity ('fuel up before a road trip'). 'Fill up' is the most casual and strongly implies filling the tank to full capacity, usually at a petrol station; it is rarely used for aircraft or ships. For example: 'The airline refueled the plane in Dubai.' 'We need to fuel up before the long drive.' 'I filled up at the station down the road.'

refuel ↗fuel up ↗fill up ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • need to refuel
  • stop to refuel
  • land to refuel
  • refuel mid-journey

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Formed by adding the prefix 're-' (meaning 'again') to the word 'fuel.' 'Fuel' comes from Old French 'feuaile,' which developed from Latin 'foculus,' meaning 'little fire' or 'hearth.' The verb 'refuel' first appeared in English in the early 1800s, when steamships needed to take on coal during long voyages.