diesel

CEFRB1

/ˈdiːzəl/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A fuel used by many trucks, buses, and machines.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A vehicle powered by a diesel engine.

Examples

  • Inhaling diesel exhaust is bad for our health.

  • The truck is powered by a diesel engine.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /ˈdisəl/
  • /ˈdizəl/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Ellipsis of diesel engine.

  2. A fuel derived from petroleum (or other oils) but heavier than gasoline/petrol. Used to power diesel engines which burn this fuel using the heat produced when air is compressed.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To ignite a substance by using the heat generated by compression.

More examples

In context

  • His next truck will be a diesel.

  • Their next engine design will be a diesel.

  • Thumbed a diesel down, outside a cafe.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The truck's engine ran on blank instead of regular gasoline fuel.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From German Diesel, named after inventor Rudolf Diesel, who developed a heavy-duty engine in Germany (1892–1897) and perfected it throughout his life.