refuelling

refuelling — noun

1. the process of filling the fuel tank of a vehicle — for example a plane, ship, o

1.nounB2
Definition

the process of filling the fuel tank of a vehicle — for example a plane, ship, or truck — after it has stopped on a trip, to give it the power needed to keep going

Example

The aircraft made a brief stop in Dubai for refuelling before continuing to Sydney.

refuelling after a stopover in route

Refuelling at sea is a complex operation that requires skilled crew members.

Common collocations
  • mid-air refuelling
  • refuelling stop
  • refuelling station
  • refuelling point
  • refuelling depot
  • refuelling operation
  • refuelling crew
  • emergency refuelling
  • in-flight refuelling
Synonyms
  • refuel

    the verb form, used as a noun only informally (‘we need a refuel’)

  • fuel stop

    a stop made for refuelling, not the action itself

Grammar Patterns

refuelling + noun (as modifier)

a + adjective + refuelling

Usage Note

In British English the spelling has a double ‘l’ (refuelling); American English uses a single ‘l’ (refueling). When talking about a single event, you can say ‘a refuelling’ (countable), for example ‘a quick refuelling’.

Common Mistakes

❖ 'We stopped for refueling in Tokyo.' ✅ 'We stopped for refuelling in Tokyo.' — In British English the correct spelling has a double ‘l’.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

‘Refuelling’ is the noun for the action of putting fuel into a vehicle. ‘Refuel’ is its verb counterpart (‘we refuelled at the airport’) and is sometimes used informally as a noun (‘we need a refuel’). ‘Fuel stop’ refers to a planned pause during a journey for refuelling, not the process itself. ‘Petrol stop’ is a British-English term used specifically when refuelling a car at a roadside station. ‘Fill-up’ is an informal American-English word for a full tank of fuel (‘I gave the car a fill-up’) and describes the result, not the action.

refuel ↗fuel stoppetrol stopfill-up

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • mid-air refuelling
  • in-flight refuelling
  • refuelling stop
  • refuelling station

Prepositions

  • for refuelling
  • during refuelling
  • after refuelling

Etymology

Vulgar LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

‘Refuelling’ comes from the verb ‘refuel’, which was formed in English by adding the prefix ‘re-’ (meaning ‘again’) to ‘fuel’. The noun ‘fuel’ entered English from Old French ‘fouaille’, which itself came from Vulgar Latin ‘focalia’ meaning ‘things for a fire’, related to Latin ‘focus’ (‘hearth, fireplace’). The doubling of the ‘l’ before vowel suffixes follows a standard British English spelling rule.