noun
diesel
DEE-zuhl
noun
1
A heavy fuel oil used in engines that ignite fuel through compression rather than a spark.
"The truck runs on diesel rather than regular petrol."
2
A diesel-powered engine or vehicle.
"They traded in the old diesel for a hybrid."
verb
1
For a petrol engine to keep running briefly after it’s switched off, due to residual heat igniting the fuel.
"The car dieseled for a second after I took the key out."
How to Use Diesel
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA fuel and engine type named after its inventor, ignited by compression rather than a spark plug.
Common pairings
diesel engine
diesel fuel
run on diesel
Word Forms
dieseled past tense, dieselled past tense, diesels singular
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The truck runs on _____ rather than regular petrol.
Etymology
Named after Rudolf Diesel, the German engineer who developed the compression-ignition engine in the 1890s.