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

Electric big rigs need to be charged more often than diesel trucks need to be refueled — about once a day compared to once every three or four days. — Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026

SpaceX has yet to prove the rocket is safe enough for a proper mission, on top of other capabilities such as refueling in space. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 29 Oct. 2026

As with Starship, Blue Origin’s original design under this new contract also involved refueling operations in low-Earth orbit for the large Blue Moon Mark 2 vehicle. — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 29 Oct. 2026

Fuel-cell forklifts are zero-emission, can be refueled quickly, maintain consistent power throughout a shift, and eliminate the space required for battery charging and change-out infrastructure. — Josh McMorrow, Footwear News, 13 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1811, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for refuel

• cruel
• dual
• duel
• fuel
• gruel
• jewel
• newel
• accrual
• nonfuel
• renewal
• biofuel
• contextual

Kids Definition

refuel

verb

re·​fu·​el (ˈ)rē-ˈfyü-əl 

: to provide with or take on more fuel