From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishoctaneoc‧tane /ˈɒkteɪn $ ˈɑːk-/ noun [uncountable] TTCTPGa type of hydrocarbon that is in fuel and is used as a measure of its quality low octane petrol high octane fuel
Examples from the Corpus
octane• All petrol engines run on 91 octane unleaded fuel and are equipped with modern fuel injection and three-way exhaust catalysts.• high-octane gasoline• It will take many years to phase out existing cars that run on high octane leaded petrol.• The problems of all five aircraft were thought to have been caused by fuel with a low octane level.• For now it's beer, wine and low octane wine margaritas.• The motor industry thinks different, Retooling to make cars that run on low octane fuel will cost money.• Problems caused by using fuel with a too low octane rating.• Low octane petrol is readily available almost everywhere, while paraffin is widely used in the third world.• When lead is added to petrol it improves a car's performance by increasing the octane rating.Origin octane (1800-1900) Latin octo “eight”; because it has eight carbon atoms 