Talk:fuel

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what is the plural for Fuel?

Request for verification[edit]

The following discussion has been moved from Wiktionary:Requests for verification.

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Current definitions for the noun senses are these:

  1. a flammable substance
  2. a substance consumed to power an engine through the release of chemical or nuclear energy
  3. a substance used by a machine or a process to produce energy or power

Some notions:

  • not any flammable substance is a fuel, e.g. gunpowder, flour dust
  • second and third definition are overlapping, if not the same
  • figurative use is omitted
  • at least in other dictionaries fuel also has the sense "food"

I think a better set of definitions would be this:

  1. Substance consumed to provide energy through combustion, chemical or nuclear reaction.
  2. Substance that provides nourishment for a living organism; food.
  3. (figurative) Something that stimulates, encourages or maintains an action.
    His books were fuel for the revolution.
    Money is the fuel for economy.

Comments? Feel free to make better suggestions. --Hekaheka 09:46, 13 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Done. Mglovesfun (talk) 15:34, 13 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Striking.​—msh210 15:27, 16 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]