carboniferous Hear it!

carboniferous definition

car·bon·if·er·ous (kär′bə nif′ər əs)

adjective

  1. producing or containing carbon or coal
  2. designating or of the fifth geologic period of the Paleozoic Era, subdivided into the Pennsylvanian (the Upper Carboniferous) and the Mississippian (the Lower Carboniferous) and characterized by warm, moist climate and vast swamps which eventually formed into extensive coal deposits

Etymology: carbon + -i- + -ferous

carboniferous Idioms

the Carboniferous

the Carboniferous Period or its rocks

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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