Definitions for COAL
koʊlcoal

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 2 votes

1. coalnoun

   fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period

2. ember, coalverb

   a hot fragment of wood or coal that is left from a fire and is glowing or smoldering

3. char, coalverb

   burn to charcoal

   "Without a drenching rain, the forest fire will char everything"

4. coalverb

   supply with coal

5. coalverb

   take in coal

   "The big ship coaled"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. coalnoun

   A black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.

2. coalnoun

   A piece of coal used for burning. Note that in British English the first of the following examples would usually be used, whereas in American English the latter would.

3. coalnoun

   A type of coal, such as bituminous, anthracite, or lignite, and grades and varieties thereof.

4. coalnoun

   A smouldering piece of material.

   Just as the camp-fire died down to just coals, with no flames to burn the marshmallows, someone dumped a whole load of wood on, so I gave up and went to bed.

5. coalverb

   To take in coal; as, the steamer coaled at Southampton.

6. coalverb

   To be converted to charcoal.

7. Etymology: cole, from col, from kulan, from gʷol- (compare Irish gúal ‘coal’, Tocharian B śoliye ‘hearth’, Persian زغال ‘live coal’), from ‘to glow, burn’ (compare Lithuanian žvìlti ‘to twinkle, glow’, Sanskrit ‘it burns’).

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. COALnoun

   Etymology: col, Sax. kol, Germ. kole, Dut. kul, Danish.

   1. The common fossil fewel.

   Coal is a black, sulphurous, inflammatory matter, dug out of the earth, serving for fewel. It is ranked among the minerals, and is common in Europe, though the English coal is of most repute. One species of pit-coal is called cannel, or canole coal, which is found in the northern counties; and is hard, glossy and light, apt to cleave into thin flakes, and, when kindled, yields a continual blaze ’till it be burnt out. Ephraim Chambers.

   Coals are solid, dry, opake, inflammable substances, found in large strata, splitting horizontally more easily than in any other direction; of a glossy hue, soft and friable, not fusible, but easily inflammable, and leaving a large residuum of ashes. John Hill, on Fossils.

   But age, enforc’d, falls by her own consent;
   As coals to ashes, when the spirit’s spent. John Denham.

   We shall meet with the same mineral lodged in coals, that elsewhere we found in marle. John Woodward, Nat. History.

   2. The cinder of burnt wood, charcoal.

   Whatsoever doth so alter a body, as it returneth not again to that it was, may be called alteratio major; as when cheese is made of curds, or coals of wood, or bricks of earth. Francis Bacon.

   3. Fire; any thing inflamed or ignited.

   You are no surer, no,
   Than is the coal of fire upon the ice,
   Or hailstones in the sun. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

   The rage of jealousy then fir’d his soul,
   And his face kindled like a burning coal. John Dryden, Fables.

   You
   Have blown this coal betwixt my lord and me. William Shakespeare, H. VIII.

2. To Coalverb

   Etymology: from the noun.

   1. To burn wood to charcoal.

   Add the tinner’s care and cost, in buying the wood for this service, felling, framing, and piling it to be burnt; in fetching the same when it is coaled, through such far, foul, and cumbersome ways. Richard Carew, Survey of Cornwal.

   2. To delineate with a coal.

   Marvailing, he coaled out rhimes upon the wall, near to the picture. William Camden, Remains.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Coal

   Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is a type of fossil fuel, formed when dead plant matter decays into peat and is converted into coal by the heat and pressure of deep burial over millions of years. Vast deposits of coal originate in former wetlands called coal forests that covered much of the Earth's tropical land areas during the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and Permian times. Many significant coal deposits are younger than this and originate from the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Coal is used primarily as a fuel. While coal has been known and used for thousands of years, its usage was limited until the Industrial Revolution. With the invention of the steam engine, coal consumption increased. In 2020, coal supplied about a quarter of the world's primary energy and over a third of its electricity. Some iron and steel-making and other industrial processes burn coal. The extraction and use of coal causes premature death and illness. The use of coal damages the environment, and it is the largest anthropogenic source of carbon dioxide contributing to climate change. Fourteen billion tonnes of carbon dioxide was emitted by burning coal in 2020, which is 40% of the total fossil fuel emissions and over 25% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. As part of worldwide energy transition, many countries have reduced or eliminated their use of coal power. The United Nations Secretary General asked governments to stop building new coal plants by 2020. Global coal use peaked in 2013. To meet the Paris Agreement target of keeping global warming below 2 °C (3.6 °F) coal use needs to halve from 2020 to 2030, and phasing out coal was agreed upon in the Glasgow Climate Pact. The largest consumer and importer of coal in 2020 was China, which accounts for almost half the world's annual coal production, followed by India with about a tenth. Indonesia and Australia export the most, followed by Russia.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. coal

   Coal is a black or brownish-black sedimentary rock that occurs mainly in underground deposits. It is primarily composed of carbon, along with various other elements such as hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. It is a fossil fuel that is formed from the remains of ancient plants and animals that lived millions of years ago. Coal is widely used as a source of energy for the generation of electricity, steel production, and as a fuel in the industrial sector.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Coalnoun

   a thoroughly charred, and extinguished or still ignited, fragment from wood or other combustible substance; charcoal

2. Coalnoun

   a black, or brownish black, solid, combustible substance, dug from beds or veins in the earth to be used for fuel, and consisting, like charcoal, mainly of carbon, but more compact, and often affording, when heated, a large amount of volatile matter

3. Coalverb

   to burn to charcoal; to char

4. Coalverb

   to mark or delineate with charcoal

5. Coalverb

   to supply with coal; as, to coal a steamer

6. Coalverb

   to take in coal; as, the steamer coaled at Southampton

7. Etymology: [AS. col; akin to D. kool, OHG. chol, cholo, G. kohle, Icel. kol, pl., Sw. kol, Dan. kul; cf. Skr. jval to burn. Cf. Kiln, Collier.]

WikidataRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. Coal

   Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with variable quantities of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Throughout history, coal has been a useful resource. It is primarily burned for the production of electricity and/or heat, and is also used for industrial purposes, such as refining metals. A fossil fuel, coal forms when dead plant matter is converted into peat, which in turn is converted into lignite, then sub-bituminous coal, after that bituminous coal, and lastly anthracite. This involves biological and geological processes that take place over a long period. Coal is the largest source of energy for the generation of electricity worldwide, as well as one of the largest worldwide anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide releases. In 1999 world gross carbon dioxide emissions from coal usage were 8,666 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Coal-fired electric power generation emits around 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide for every megawatt-hour generated, which is almost double the approximately 1100 pounds of carbon dioxide released by a natural gas-fired electric plant per megawatt-hour generated. Because of this higher carbon efficiency of natural gas generation, as the fuel mix in the United States has changed to reduce coal and increase natural gas generation, carbon dioxide emissions have fallen. Those measured in the first quarter of 2012 were the lowest of any recorded for the first quarter of any year since 1992.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Coal

   kōl, n. a solid, black, combustible substance used for fuel, dug out of the earth: cinder.—v.i. to take in coal.—v.t. to supply with coal.—n. Coal′-bed, a stratum of coal.—adj. Coal′-black, black as coal, very black.—ns. Coal′-box, a box for holding coal; Coal′-brass, a name applied to the pyrites in the coal-measures; Coal′field, a field or district containing coal strata; Coal′-fish, a fish of the cod family, so named from the black colour of its back; Coal′-gas, the mixture of gases produced by the destructive distillation of coal, chiefly carburetted hydrogen—giving the gaslight in common use; Coal′-heav′er, one employed in carrying coal; Coal′-house, a covered-in place for keeping coal; Coal′man, one who has to do with coals; Coal′-mas′ter, the owner or lessee of a coalfield; Coal′-meas′ure, a measure by which the quantity of coal is ascertained: (pl.) the group of carboniferous strata in which coal is found (geol.); Coal′-mine, Coal′-pit, a pit or mine from which coal is dug; Coal′-own′er, one who owns a colliery; Coal′-plant, a fossil plant of the carboniferous strata; Coal′-scutt′le, a vessel for holding coal; Coal′-tar, or Gas-tar, a thick, black, opaque liquid which condenses in the pipes when coal or petroleum is distilled; Coal′-trim′mer, one who stores or shifts coal on board vessels; Coal′-whip′per, one employed in unloading coal from vessels at anchor to barges which convey it to the wharves.—adj. Coal′y, of or like coal.—Coaling station, a port at which steamships take in coal; Coal-scuttle bonnet, a woman's bonnet, shaped like a coal-scuttle upside down.—Blind or Anthracite coal, that which does not flame when kindled; Bituminous coal, that which does; Brown coal (see Brown); Caking coal, a bituminous coal which cakes or fuses into one mass in the fire; Cannel or Parrot coal (see Cannel); Cherry or Soft coal, coal breaking off easily into small, irregular cubes, having beautiful shining lustre; Splint, Hard, or Block coal, plentiful in Scotland, hard, breaking into cuboidal blocks.—Blow the coals, to excite passion; Carry coals to Newcastle, to take a thing where it is least needed; Haul over the coals, reprimand—from the discipline applied to heretics; Heap coals of fire on the head, to excite remorse by returning good for evil (Rom. xii. 20). [A.S. col; cog. with Ice. kol, Ger. kohle.]

U.S. National Library of MedicineRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Coal

   A natural fuel formed by partial decomposition of vegetable matter under certain environmental conditions.

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. COAL

   What does COAL stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the COAL acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Burn
   • Fossil Fuel
   • Supply
   • Take In
   • Vegetable Matter

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'COAL' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2207

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'COAL' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1217

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'COAL' in Nouns Frequency: #874

Anagrams for COAL »

1. Acol

2. Caló

3. cola

4. LCAO

5. alco

6. loca

How to pronounce COAL?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say COAL in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of COAL in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of COAL in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of COAL in a Sentence

1. Andrew Wheeler:

   My grandfather was a coal miner during the Depression, my grandmother raised her children in the coal camps of West Virginia. In fact, I still have some of the company script that she used to buy food in the company store.

2. Yuan Jiahai:

   The efficiency target is in line with earlier emissions standards announced in 2014, but it tightens things up for coal-fired plants nationwide, without regional differences.

3. Zhang Bin:

   Many cities in China, including the northeastern provinces, use coal as the major heat generator, which pushes up air pollution levels.

4. George Huang:

   The new year holiday has slowed activities on top of lengthy checks on coal imports.

5. Avinash Vazirani:

   Why sell ONGC and Coal India when the regulatory issues have not yet been resolved?

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=COAL
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Coal
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=COAL
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/COAL
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=COAL
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=COAL