gasoline
gb/ɡˈæsəlˌin/ us/ɡˈæsəlˌin/
B1
English
~ 8800
Senses
0 senses
Noun
B1
entity
1
Liquid fuel for cars and engines
A liquid fuel made from oil that is used to run cars and other engines.
Usage pattern:
to put gasoline in [a vehicle]
Common mistake:
Learners often confuse "gas" meaning "gasoline" in American English with "gas" as a scientific word for a state of matter. Also, in British English the common word is "petrol", not "gasoline". Another mistake is treating "gasoline" as countable in everyday use (e.g., saying *a gasoline*); it is normally uncountable: "some gasoline", "a gallon of gasoline".
Synonyms
petrol (Standard word in British and many other varieties of English; same substance as gasoline.)
|
gas (Common American informal term for gasoline; can be confusing because it also means any gas as a state of matter.)
|
fuel (More general; includes gasoline but also diesel, kerosene, etc.)
Antonyms
electricity (Not a direct opposite, but a contrasting energy source used by electric vehicles instead of gasoline.)
Collocations
unleaded gasoline
|premium gasoline
|a gallon of gasoline
|gasoline prices
|put gasoline in the car
|run on gasoline
Themes
transport
|energy
|daily life
|transportation
|science
|daily_life
Examples
- Gasoline prices usually go up before a holiday weekend.
- This car uses less gasoline than my old SUV.
- We ran out of gasoline halfway to the cabin and had to call for help.
- The lawn mower won’t start; I think it needs more gasoline.
- In some countries, leaded gasoline has been completely banned.
Learner examples
- I need to buy gasoline for my car.
- Her small car does not use much gasoline.
- We stopped at a station to get gasoline.
- The motorcycle runs on gasoline.
- Gasoline is made from oil.
Noun
informal
B2
entity
2
Thing that makes trouble much worse
Something that makes a bad or tense situation much worse or more intense.
Usage pattern:
[something] is gasoline on [a situation/problem]
Common mistake:
Learners may think "gasoline" is always literal and fail to notice when it is used metaphorically in phrases like "gasoline on the fire" to describe something that makes a conflict or problem worse.
Synonyms
trigger (Focuses on starting a strong reaction; "gasoline" suggests strongly increasing an already active situation.)
|
catalyst (More formal and technical; can be positive or negative, while "gasoline" in this sense is strongly negative.)
|
provocation (Emphasizes causing anger; "gasoline" emphasizes making existing anger or conflict explode.)
Antonyms
calming influence (Has the opposite effect: it reduces tension instead of making it explode.)
|
stabilizer (Something that keeps a situation steady rather than intensifying it.)
Collocations
like gasoline on a fire
|gasoline on the flames
|emotional gasoline
|political gasoline
Themes
emotions
|conflict
|metaphor
|relationships
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- The politician’s harsh comments were gasoline on an already heated debate.
- Sharing that rumor now would be pure gasoline on the office drama.
- His sudden resignation was gasoline on the crisis the company was trying to control.
Learner examples
- Her angry post was like gasoline on the problem.
- That joke was gasoline on the fight between them.
- Telling him the news now would be gasoline on his stress.
Grammar
Expressions
pour gasoline on the fire
1/pˈɔɹ ɡˈæsəlˌin ˈɔn ðə fˈaɪɚ/
idiom
Make a tense situation worse
To do or say something that makes a bad or angry situation much worse.
Examples
- Blaming the workers right now would just pour gasoline on the fire.
- When she brought up old problems during the argument, it poured gasoline on the fire.