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petroleum

American  
[puh-troh-lee-uhm] / pəˈtroʊ li əm /

noun

  1. an oily, thick, flammable, usually dark-colored liquid that is a form of bitumen or a mixture of various hydrocarbons, occurring naturally in various parts of the world and commonly obtained by drilling: used in a natural or refined state as fuel, or separated by distillation into gasoline, naphtha, benzene, kerosene, paraffin, etc.

petroleum British  
/ pəˈtrəʊlɪəm /

noun

  1. a dark-coloured thick flammable crude oil occurring in sedimentary rocks around the Persian Gulf, in parts of North and South America, and below the North Sea, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. Fractional distillation separates the crude oil into petrol, paraffin, diesel oil, lubricating oil, etc. Fuel oil, paraffin wax, asphalt, and carbon black are extracted from the residue

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
petroleum Scientific  
/ pə-trō′lē-əm /

  1. A thick, flammable, yellow-to-black mixture of gaseous, liquid, and solid hydrocarbons that occurs naturally beneath the Earth's surface. It can be separated into fractions including natural gas, gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, paraffin wax, asphalt, and fuel and lubricating oils, and is used as raw material for a wide variety of derivative products. It is believed to originate from the accumulated remains of fossil plants and animals, especially in shallow marine environments.

Other Word Forms

  • petroleous adjective

Etymology

Origin of petroleum

1520–30; < Medieval Latin: literally, rock oil, equivalent to Latin petr ( a ) rock (< Greek pétra ) + oleum oil

Compare meaning

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Without a doubt, the Iran attack looks to be the biggest pricing event for gasoline since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

From MarketWatch

Without a doubt, this looks to be the biggest pricing event for gasoline since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

From MarketWatch

Iran warned vessels not to enter the Strait of Hormuz, a vital thoroughfare for nearly a fifth of global petroleum supplies.

From The Wall Street Journal

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s petroleum and liquefied natural gas supply passes each day through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint between Iran and Oman.

From Barron's

Around 20% of the global petroleum liquids the world uses transits through the strait each day.

From MarketWatch

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.