charcoal
UK /ˈtʃɑː.kəʊl/ · US /ˈt͡ʃɑɹ.koʊl/ noun, adjective, verb
Forms charcoals charcoaling charcoaled
- noun (countable, uncountable) impure carbon obtained by destructive distillation of wood or other organic matter, that is, heating it in the absence of oxygen.
- noun (countable) A stick of black carbon material used for drawing.
- noun (countable) A drawing made with charcoal.
- noun A very dark gray colour.
- adjective Of a dark gray colour.
- adjective Made of charcoal.
- verb To draw with charcoal.
- verb To cook over charcoal.
Synonyms
wood coal fusain charcoal grey charcoal gray oxford grey oxford gray charcoal-grey charcoal-gray
Etymology
From Middle English charcole, from charren (“to change, turn”) + cole (“coal”), from Old English cierran (“to change, turn”) + col (“coal”). By surface analysis, char (Etymology 3 [verb]) + coal.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Impure carbon prepared from vegetable or animal substances; esp., coal made by charring wood in a kiln, retort, etc., from which air is excluded. It is used for fuel and in various mechanical, artistic, and chemical processes.
- noun Finely prepared charcoal in small sticks, used as a drawing implement. Animal charcoal, a fine charcoal prepared by calcining bones in a closed vessel; --used as a filtering agent in sugar refining, and as an absorbent and disinfectant.
Etymology [See Char, v. t., to burn or to reduce to coal, and Coal.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “charcoal”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details