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

No one has refueled a spacecraft so far from Earth before. —Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2025

Avoid excessive idling and do not top off when refueling motor vehicles. —Matthew Robinson, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025

Starship's powerful Raptor engines are fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid methane — both of which require cryogenic cooling to maintain their liquid states, and will need to be transferred between vehicles for refueling in order to reach any destination beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). —Josh Dinner, Space.com, 16 Sep. 2025

By reducing time spent at charging stations, the technology aims to make the EV ownership experience more comparable to refueling a conventional vehicle. —Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 14 Sep. 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