pet ‧ rol S3 /ˈpetrəl/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ; Origin: pétrole , from Medieval Latin petroleum ; ⇨ ↑ petroleum ]
British English a liquid obtained from ↑ petroleum that is used to supply power to the engine of cars and other vehicles SYN gasoline American English :
unleaded petrol
petrol prices
The petrol tank is leaking.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ phrases
▪ a litre of petrol
▪ a tankful/tank of petrol (=the amount of petrol that you need to fill up a car)
He bought a tankful of petrol.
■ petrol + NOUN
▪ a petrol station (=a place where you take your car to fill it with petrol)
We'd better stop at the next petrol station.
▪ a petrol pump (=a machine for putting petrol into cars at a petrol station)
▪ the petrol tank (=the part of a car where you put the petrol)
The petrol tank was nearly empty.
▪ a petrol tanker (=a vehicle used for carrying petrol)
■ verbs
▪ fill (a vehicle) up with petrol
She stopped to fill up with petrol.
▪ run out of petrol
They ran out of petrol some miles from their destination.
▪ run on petrol
Many older vehicles have been converted to run on unleaded petrol.
▪ use petrol
Try to cut your motoring costs and use less petrol.
■ adjectives
▪ unleaded petrol (=petrol that does not contain lead)
▪ leaded petrol (=petrol that contains lead)