coal Definition
coal (kōl)
noun
- a kind of dark brown to black, combustible, sedimentary rock resulting from the partial decomposition of vegetable matter away from air and under varying degrees of increased temperature and pressure over a period of millions of years: used as a fuel and in the production of coke, coal gas, water gas, and many coal-tar compounds
- a piece (or collectively, pieces) of this rock
- a piece of glowing or charred wood, coal, or similar substance; ember
- charcoal
Etymology: ME & OE col, charcoal, live coal, akin to Ger kohle, ON kol < IE base *g(e)u-lo-, live coal > Ir gual
transitive verb
- to reduce (a substance) to charcoal by burning
- to provide with coal
intransitive verb
to take in a supply of coal
coal Idioms
haul over the coals
or rake over the coals or drag over the coals or call over the coalsto criticize sharply; censure; scold
heap coals of fire on someone's head
to cause someone to feel remorse by returning good for evil: Prov. 25:22
coal Synonyms
coal
n.
Mineral fuel
mineral coal, coke, fossil fuel; see fuel.Types of coal include: hard coal, soft coal, charcoal, brown coal, pit coal, lignite, tasmanite, subbituminous coal, cannel, anthracite, bituminous, coke, carbocoal, turf, peat, semianthracite, semibituminous coal.
Grades of coal include: broken, lump, chunk, egg, stove, nut, pea, rice, buckwheat, briquette, slack, duff, flaxseed, mustard seed.
An ember
haul<strong> or </strong>rake<strong> or </strong>drag over the coals</em>*
coal Finance Definition
coal Usage Examples
Converse of object
- burn: No holidays abroad, no carpets on the floor, we burned coal on the fire, no locks on the door.
- shovel: He was paraded along the seafront on a steam powered trolley attended by engineers who would be black from shoveling coal.
- coke: Latterly the colliery provided the Ravenscraig Steelworks with coking coal.
- pulverize: There are many proven technologies available today for reducing air pollutant emissions from pulverized coal fired power plant.
Adjective modifier
- bituminous: Chimneys using bituminous coal should be swept at least once a year.
- smokeless: If dry seasoned wood or smokeless coal is used of a sufficient quantity, the stove will stay in for many hours.
- imported: Some of the countries discussed are significant exporters while others rely on imported hard coal for their energy supplies.
- deep-mined: Public ownership is the only way to preserve both jobs and the ability of Britain to exploit deep-mined coal.
- hot: It has a drawer beneath the seat where hot coals were placed to keep the guards warm on chilly nights.
Modifies a noun
- mining: Go to TOP Coal mines The coal mining area is in the center of the basin.
- mine: Go to TOP Coal mines The coal mining area is in the center of the basin.
- miner: Parents James Shaw, coal miner dec & Rachel Ferguson.
- seam: Unlike coal seams which tend to run horizontally, metal deposits are vertical.
- tar: Many of these stains were coal tar dyes developed in a dazzling array for the textile industry.
- cellar: Water came from a standpipe outside and each had a washhouse and coal cellar.
Noun used with modifier
- opencast: Comprehensive statistics on opencast coal have, in the past, been collected and published by the Planning Officers ' Society.
- burning: Buildings In cold climates, a lot of CO 2 is emitted by burning coal, oil or gas to keep us warm.
- cwt: Official evacuees 1. Jan: 6th 5 cwt coal received.
- steam: On 1 April 2006 we received an almost 15 percent increase in the price we receive for domestic steam coal.
- sulfur: The effect of lower sulfur coal blends on the performance of electrostatic precipitators and fabric filters is also covered.
Browse dictionary entries near coal
- ‹ Coahuila
- ‹ coagulum
- ‹ coagulation
- ‹ coagulate
- ‹ coagulase
- ‹ coagulant
- ‹ coagulable
- ‹ coadunate
- ‹ coadjutor
- ‹ coadjutant
- coal car ›
- coal gas ›
- coal measures ›
- coal oil ›
- coal tar ›
- coaler ›
- coalesce ›
- coalfish ›
- coalification ›
- coaling station ›

