refuel

verb

re·​fu·​el (ˌ)rē-ˈfyü(-ə)l 

refueled; refueling; refuels

transitive verb

: to provide with additional fuel

intransitive verb

: to take on additional fuel

Examples of refuel in a Sentence

The crew refueled the airplane.

The airplane landed to refuel.

Recent Examples on the Web

It was supposed to head south to refuel in Bay Ridge before heading out of New York Harbor and was never meant to sail under the bridge. —David Matthews, New York Daily News, 19 May 2025

Hungry after a day's hard work, McNally went to refuel at a new restaurant joint (a switch-up from her usual go-to, Chipotle) — and alas, the unthinkable happened. —Skyler Caruso, People.com, 22 Apr. 2025

In fact, modern nuclear boats can't be refueled; there's no provision for it in their design. —New Atlas, 15 Apr. 2025

There’s even tank monitoring feedback between the boat and the fueling station that monitors tank conditions and can stop refueling if things get too hot. —Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, FOXNews.com, 22 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1811, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for refuel

• accrual
• nonfuel
• renewal
• biofuel
• contextual
• nonrenewal
• nonsexual
• unusual
• cruel
• dual
• duel
• fuel

Kids Definition

refuel

verb

re·​fu·​el (ˈ)rē-ˈfyü-əl 

: to provide with or take on more fuel