petrol

noun

pet·​rol ˈpe-trəl 

-ˌträl

chiefly British

: gasoline

Examples of petrol in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There were also widespread protests in 2019, sparked by a sharp increase in the price of petrol. —CBS News, 2 Jan. 2026

At Issoudun, Quentin was put in charge of transportation and equipment, maintaining the outfit’s 52 trucks and other vehicles and making sure they were well stocked with petrol, parts and all sorts of other things, at a time when supply chain issues plagued the American military. —Fiona Donovan, Vanity Fair, 30 Dec. 2025

And the best way to currently deliver all that is with petrol power. —Tim Parker, Fortune, 18 Dec. 2025

The plant plans to supply 50 million liters of petrol daily to Nigerian consumers between now and February, from a previous daily rate of 45 million liters. —Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 15 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French pétrole "petroleum, any of various products distilled from petroleum," going back to Old French petteroile, petrole "mineral oil, petroleum," borrowed from Medieval Latin petroleum — more at petroleum

Note: The use of the word in English is apparently owed to a cooperative endeavor by the British distilling and oil refining firm Carless, Capel and Leonard and the engineer Frederick Richard Simms, who had purchased the rights to Gottlieb Daimler's gasoline-powered engine. Though an attempt to register petrol as a trademark was unsuccessful, Carless, Capel and Leonard continued to use it as a marketing name. Note that French pétrole (rather than essence de pétrole) is used for distilled petroleum products by Gustave Richard in Les nouveaux moteurs à gaz et à pétrole (Paris, 1892). The now usual French word essence for "gasoline" is shortened from essence de pétrole.

First Known Use

1895, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing petrol

• petrol bomb
• petrol station

Kids Definition

petrol

noun

pet·​rol ˈpe-trəl 

-ˌträl

chiefly British

: gasoline