gasoline

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a volatile, flammable blend of liquid hydrocarbons refined chiefly from petroleum and used mainly as fuel in spark-ignition engines; petrol

   The engine burns gasoline mixed with air and ignited by a spark.

Formed in the mid-nineteenth century from gas + -ol + -ine (or -ene), suffixes associated with oils and chemical products. The variant gasolene appeared early; gasoline became standard in North American English, while British English generally uses petrol.

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