hydraulic fracturing

noun

: fracking

… hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process used to extract oil and natural gas from bedrock.

—Maggie Astor

The gas-fired plants come courtesy of the revolution in hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), which has delivered a vast supply of low-cost natural gas to an electricity market that has struggled with steadily rising coal prices since 2001.

—Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren

Examples of hydraulic fracturing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The process of hydraulic fracturing ekes out oil from older wells, and involves cracking the bedrock several thousand feet below the seafloor by injecting chemical fluids with intense pressure. — Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2026

This is typically done by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—a technique borrowed from the oil-and-gas industry that involves injecting high-pressure fluids. — IEEE Spectrum, 11 Aug. 2026

At the time the preemption law passed, several local governments were considering restrictions on hydraulic fracturing amid a wave of earthquakes caused by oil and gas injection. — Nick Bowlin, ProPublica, 30 June 2026

Then horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing unlocked enormous new supplies. — Dan Eberhart, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hydraulic fracturing

• nonmanufacturing
• remanufacturing
• manufacturing