kerosene

noun

Save Word

ker·o·sene | \ ˈker-ə-ˌsēn

, ˌker-ə-ˈsēn

variants: or less commonly kerosine

Definition of kerosene

: a flammable hydrocarbon oil usually obtained by distillation of petroleum and used as a fuel, solvent, and thinner

Examples of kerosene in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web They were furnished with a can of kerosene oil and matches.... — Smithsonian Magazine, "The Burning: The Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921," 17 Mar. 2021 Roughly 85% of folks had ditched kerosene lamps by the end of the decade. — Stephen Mcbride, Forbes, "America Is Transforming Before Our Eyes," 9 Mar. 2021 The rocket, which has a kerosene-LOX first stage, is capable of lifting about 8.5 metric tons to low-Earth orbit. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Rocket Report: SN9 rolls to the launch pad, SLS “wet dress” test ends early," 23 Dec. 2020 This is especially true while burning material that contains carbon, like natural gas, gasoline, kerosene, oil, propane, coal, or wood. — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, "How to Avoid Carbon Monoxide Poisoning While Warming Your Home," 18 Feb. 2021 Instead, a concept using three 5-meter diameter first-stage cores and clusters of YF-100K engines—uprated versions of the YF-100 kerosene engines used by China's new Long March 5, 6, and 7 launchers—now appears to be integral to China's plans. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Rocket Report: SLS has technical problems, Vector—yes, Vector—is back," 6 Nov. 2020 The Falcon 9 burns less-powerful kerosene and oxygen. — William Harwood, CBS News, "SpaceX launches Starship prototype on spectacular test flight, rocket explodes on touchdown," 10 Dec. 2020 This engine has several optimizations, one of which is the use of liquid oxygen—rather than solely room temperature kerosene—to regeneratively cool the engine's throat and cylinder. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Meet Launcher, the rocket engine builder with just eight employees," 9 Nov. 2020 Commonly known for the Aladdin kerosene lamp, the company made electric lamps from the 1930s to 1956. — Brenda Yenke, cleveland, "All aglow with circumstance: Yenke Peddler antiques," 10 Dec. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'kerosene.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about kerosene

Dictionary Entries near kerosene

Statistics for kerosene

Last Updated

26 Mar 2021

Cite this Entry

“Kerosene.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kerosene. Accessed 17 Apr. 2021.

Style: MLA

MLA

Chicago

APA

Merriam-Webster Check Mark Icon

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for kerosene

kerosene

noun

English Language Learners Definition of kerosene

chiefly US : a type of oil that is burned as a fuel

See the full definition for kerosene in the English Language Learners Dictionary

kerosene

noun

ker·o·sene | \ ˈker-ə-ˌsēn

Kids Definition of kerosene

: a thin oil obtained from petroleum and used as a fuel and solvent

kerosene

noun

ker·o·sene

variants: also kerosine \ ˈker-ə-ˌsēn

, ˌker-ə-ˈ

, ˈkar- , ˌkar- \

Medical Definition of kerosene

: a flammable hydrocarbon oil usually obtained by distillation of petroleum and used for a fuel and as a solvent and thinner (as in insecticide emulsions)