carbonize

[ kahr-buh-nahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, car·bon·ized, car·bon·iz·ing.

1. to char (organic matter) until it forms carbon.
2. to coat or enrich with carbon.

verb (used without object)

, car·bon·ized, car·bon·iz·ing.

1. to become carbonized.

carbonize

/ ˈkɑːbəˌnaɪz /

verb

1. to turn or be turned into carbon as a result of heating, fossilization, chemical treatment, etc
2. tr to enrich or coat (a substance) with carbon
3. intr to react or unite with carbon

Derived Forms

• ˈcarbonˌizer, noun
• ˌcarboniˈzation, noun

Other Words From

• carbon·iza·ble adjective
• carbon·izer noun
• un·carbon·ized adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of carbonize¹

First recorded in 1800–10; carbon + -ize

Example Sentences

As you use your pan, impurities in the oil and food residue carbonize, making the seasoning durable.

From Outside Online

I diligently cooked bacon in it once a month to build up a solid layer of polymerized and carbonized fat, known as seasoning, that gives cast iron its nonstick properties.

From Outside Online

What isn’t clear, though, is how seriously investors can take these green bonds when the entities issuing them continue in parallel to make profits from fossil fuels that carbonize the climate.

From Quartz

Since 2019, Monaco has studied the carbonized bread at the National Museum of Archaeology, in Naples.

From Popular-Science

When the dust thus produced begins to carbonize, the pressure and velocity are increased.

From Project Gutenberg

Empyreuma, the smell arising from organic matter when subjected to the action of fire, but not enough to carbonize it entirely.

From Project Gutenberg

To carbonize wood under a movable covering, the plan of meiler, or heaps, is employed very much in Germany.

From Project Gutenberg

The material began to carbonize at a temperature of 140° to 150°.

From Project Gutenberg

He began to carbonize everything in nature that he could lay hands on.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• burn