Definition of fracking
: the injection of fluid into shale beds at high pressure in order to free up petroleum resources (such as oil or natural gas)
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Recent Examples of fracking from the Web
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But Maryland’s expiring moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, brought out the ugly in Garrett.
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Santorum is a longtime supporter of fracking , which many environmentalists oppose, and is the co-chairman of Americans for Energy Security and Innovation, which advocates for biofuels.
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Bowling Green - A Right to A Livable Climate charter amendment: This amendment, led by many Bowling Green State University students and faculty in the environmental department, is similar to the Youngstown fracking amendment.
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No Decision Power companies have made a dramatic shift from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas as an energy source as the fracking boom drove down natural gas prices by about 40 percent from 2006 to 2016.
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Back then, companies in the United States took advantage of the high prices, learning to produce huge quantities of oil from shale rock in a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
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Years of nasty environmental conditions and nastier environmentalists, combined with fracking, and loosened sanctions, and bad business decisions—and maybe a teeny bit of alternative energy—have curtailed their Arctic ambitions.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fracking'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Hydraulic fracturing is a technique in which a liquid is injected under high pressure into a well in order to create tiny fissures in the rock deep beneath the earth which then allow gas and oil to flow into the well. The term "hydraulic fracturing" is first known to have appeared in print in a 1948 issue of Oil & Gas Journal. A 1953 issue of the same journal also contains the earliest known print use of "fracking." The word fracking (sometimes spelled fraccing or fracing, particularly by those in the gas and oil industries) was created by shortening "fracturing." The addition of the "k" brings the word into conformity with the inflected forms of similar English words ending in a vowel plus "c," such as shellacking, panicking, and frolicking.
Origin and Etymology of fracking
by shortening & alteration from (hydraulic) fracturing
First Known Use: 1953
FRACKING Defined for English Language Learners
fracking
playDefinition of fracking for English Language Learners
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: a method used for getting oil and gas from underground rocks by injecting liquid into the rocks so that they break apart
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