diesel

noun

die·​sel ˈdē-zəl How to pronounce diesel (audio)
-səl
1
2
: a vehicle driven by a diesel engine
3

Examples of diesel in a Sentence

Does your car take diesel or gasoline?
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
With the majority of their diesel fleet retired, Caltrain offered 19 diesel locomotives and 90 retired silver gallery cars for sale. Nollyanne Delacruz, The Mercury News, 17 Nov. 2024 Mexico sent nearly half a million barrels of crude oil and diesel in a matter of days. Carmen Sesin, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024 But Mark Gibson, a union leader at a diesel plant, still saw Trump’s effect on people. Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2024 As the writer Nicola Twilley outlines in Frostbite, her recent history of refrigeration, mechanical cooling requires tremendous amounts of power for warehouses—refrigeration accounts for about 8 percent of global electricity usage—as well as diesel for trucks. Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 11 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for diesel 

Word History

Etymology

Rudolf Diesel

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of diesel was in 1894

Dictionary Entries Near diesel

Cite this Entry

“Diesel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diesel. Accessed 10 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

diesel

noun
die·​sel ˈdē-zəl How to pronounce diesel (audio)
-səl
1
2
: a vehicle (as a truck or train) driven by a diesel engine
3
: a fuel designed for use in diesel engines
Etymology

named for Rudolf Diesel 1858–1913 German engineer

Biographical Definition

Diesel

biographical name

Die·​sel ˈdē-zəl How to pronounce Diesel (audio)
-səl
Rudolf 1858–1913 German mechanical engineer

More from Merriam-Webster on diesel

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