natural gas

noun

1

: gas issuing from the earth's crust through natural openings or bored wells

especially : a combustible mixture of methane and other hydrocarbons used chiefly as a fuel and raw material

2

: gas manufactured from organic matter (such as coal)

Examples of natural gas in a Sentence

a house heated by natural gas

Recent Examples on the Web

The war has threatened global supplies of oil and natural gas, sparked fertilizer shortages and disrupted air travel. —ABC News, 29 Mar. 2026

Investors fear that the war will disrupt the Persian Gulf's energy industry for a long time, setting off a punishing wave of global inflation by keeping large amounts of oil and natural gas out of global markets. —CBS News, 28 Mar. 2026

The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow, precarious waterway between Iran and the Musandam Peninsula through which flows roughly 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas, fertilizer for agriculture, helium for semiconductors, and petrochemicals that go into almost everything. —Jordan Blum, Fortune, 28 Mar. 2026

Prices for liquified natural gas are also a worry. —Matt Peterson, CNBC, 28 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for natural gas

• bermudagrass
• alas
• amass
• bromegrass
• bypass
• chagas
• crabgrass
• crevasse
• eelgrass
• eyeglass
• groundmass
• harass

Kids Definition

natural gas

noun

: gas that comes from the earth's crust through natural openings or bored wells

especially : a flammable mixture of hydrocarbons and especially methane used chiefly as a fuel and raw material