diesel
Pluraldiesels (some meanings)
Pluraldiesels (some meanings)
Formsdiesels
- 1A fuel made from petroleum or other oils, heavier than gasoline, that powers diesel engines, which ignite it with the heat of compressed air.
Farmers keep a tank of diesel on hand for their tractors and generators.
The backup generator can run for three days on a full tank of diesel.
UsageUsually with no article: a tank of diesel, run on diesel. The fuller name is diesel fuel.
Note
The fuel takes its name from the engine, and the engine from its inventor: Rudolf Diesel developed a heavy-duty engine in Germany between 1892 and 1897 and went on perfecting it throughout his life. The name has lost its capital in English.
- 2Short for diesel engine.
The mechanic rebuilt the diesel in our fishing boat over the winter.
For the pump station, engineers chose a diesel over an electric motor so it could keep running during power outages.
UsageA diesel is the engine or a vehicle; diesel with no article is usually the fuel.
- 3A vehicle, such as a truck or locomotive, that is driven by a diesel engine.
She traded in her sedan for a diesel because she tows a horse trailer most weekends.
The railroad retired its last steam locomotive and ran only diesels after that.
Less common meanings
- 4Of a spark-ignition engine: to keep running after the current to the spark plugs is cut, because heat in the combustion chamber ignites the fuel-air mixture, as in a diesel.
An overheated engine with carbon deposits in its cylinders may diesel after the ignition is turned off.
Many older carbureted cars have a solenoid that cuts off fuel to keep the engine from dieseling.
UsageThe engine or car is the subject, often with keep: the car kept dieseling.
Note
Mechanics also call this run-on: after the key is turned, the engine sputters and shakes for a few seconds on its own. A hot spot, often glowing carbon deposits, keeps lighting the fuel, which is why many carbureted engines carry an anti-dieseling solenoid that shuts off fuel when the ignition goes off.
- 5One specific strain of cannabis, bred by crossing different varieties.
- 6To set a substance burning by means of the heat that compression produces.
- 7A cyclist who rides at a steady, even effort rather than in bursts of speed.
- 8A name for the drink otherwise called snakebite and black.
Showing meanings only.
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Origin
The word comes from German Diesel, which honors the inventor Rudolf Diesel. He developed a heavy-duty engine in Germany between 1892 and 1897 and kept improving it for the rest of his life.