hydraulic fracturing

noun

: fracking
The gas-fired plants come courtesy of the revolution in hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), which has delivered a vast supply of low-cost natural gas to an electricity market that has struggled with steadily rising coal prices since 2001.Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren

Examples of hydraulic fracturing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Its scientists had also carried out advanced research into nuclear energy, hydraulic fracturing, hydrogen storage, fuel-cell development, and carbon capture and sequestration. Abe Streep, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2024 As demand for plastics grows, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has produced an abundant supply of natural gas, an important feedstock for making plastics. Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 24 Dec. 2024 Harris currently supports hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, but that wasn’t always so. Louis Jacobson, Maria Ramirez Uribe, Austin American-Statesman, 5 Sep. 2024 Starting around 2005, companies began to unlock massive new supplies of natural gas, and then oil, from shale basins, thanks to two new technologies: horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (or fracking). David G. Victor, Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2017 See all Example Sentences for hydraulic fracturing 

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hydraulic fracturing was in 1948

Dictionary Entries Near hydraulic fracturing

Cite this Entry

“Hydraulic fracturing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hydraulic%20fracturing. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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