Definition of fuel

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< fuehrer

fuel cell >

fu·el    (fyl) KEY 

NOUN:

1. Something consumed to produce energy, especially:
   1. A material such as wood, coal, gas, or oil burned to produce heat or power.
   2. Fissionable material used in a nuclear reactor.
   3. Nutritive material metabolized by a living organism; food.
2. Something that maintains or stimulates an activity or emotion: "Money is the fuel of a volunteer organization" (Natalie de Combray).

VERB:
fu·eled, also fu·elled fu·el·ing, fu·el·ling fu·els, fu·els
VERB:
tr.

1. To provide with fuel.
2. To support or stimulate the activity or existence of: rhetoric that fueled the dissenters.

VERB:
intr.

To take in fuel.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English feuel, from Old French fouaille, feuaile, from Vulgar Latin *foclia, neuter pl. of *foclis, of the hearth or fireplace, from Latin focus, hearth, fireplace

OTHER FORMS:
fuel·er(Noun)