Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun figuratively A person who is overly
reliant on the use theircar , resisting any suggestion to use othermeans of transport . - noun Australia, New Zealand, derogatory A
bogan who is overly fond of their car or motorbike and enjoys showing it off and making noise with it. - noun Australia, New Zealand A person involved in motor racing either as participant or dedicated spectator.
- noun UK A car enthusiast.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I'm not what some might term a "petrolhead" - I learnt to drive relatively late and I still couldn't tell you exactly where a sparkplug goes - but I do love to drive and I do like my cars.
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph Dan Stevens 2011
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A self-proclaimed "petrolhead", she especially liked listening to AC/DC while driving her motorbike.
Stuff.co.nz - Stuff 2010
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Even the Top Gear crew insist that you cannot legitimately lay claim to being a "petrolhead" unless you have owned an Alfa.
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He said that Zoe, who would have turned 18 next month, was a bit of a tomboy, describing her as a "petrolhead" who loved fast cars and was also a keen Rangers supporter.
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So it's no use trying to dismiss me as some kind of petrolhead polluter who wants to cover the planet with runways and motorways, nor to allege I'm in the pay of Big Oil, when I say that I doubt the existence of man-made global warming.
Home | Mail Online 2009
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Basically, more cyberpunk than steampunk, also reminiscent of the George A. Romero's iconic "Dawn of the Dead" - "The stand-off between the gentlefolk adventurers and researchers and an enraged tribe of Mad Max-esque petrolhead barbarians in the ruins of a shopping mall".
"Steampunk" Anthology, Edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer 2009
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Not everyone appreciates the throaty roar of a large outboard engine driven by a petrolhead disturbing a summer's afternoon – unless it is coming to rescue you.
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Here's a blow-by-blow account of this quantum of airtime: a homophobic exchange between Eastenders 'Roxy, Pat and Bianca; and a "playful" introduction of Jeremy Clarkson by Jonathan Ross in which Ross describes the provocative petrolhead as a man not loved by lesbians.
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I suspect in a different age where planetary collapse wasn't so high up the agenda he would've been a petrolhead.
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Clark, a sociopathic petrolhead in goggles, was once civic enough to warn readers, in his column for Classic Cars, that speed kills.
Well, that's the Top Gear vote sewn up for the coalition 2010
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