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• char
  char

  verb (used with object)

  to burn or reduce to charcoal.
• Char
  Char

  noun

  René 1907–1988, French poet.
• char.
  char.

  abbreviation

  character.

char

¹ American  

[chahr] / tʃɑr /

verb (used with object)

charred, charring

1. to burn or reduce to charcoal.

   The fire charred the paper.

2. to burn slightly; scorch.

   The flame charred the steak.

   Synonyms:

   sear, singe

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verb (used without object)

charred, charring

1. to become charred.

noun

1. a charred material or surface.

2. charcoal.

3. a superior carbon-rich fuel, a by-product of the conversion of coal into gaseous or liquid fuel.

char ² American  

[chahr] / tʃɑr /

Or charr

noun

• char,
  plural
• chars
  plural

1. any trout of the genus Salvelinus (orCristovomer ), especially the Arctic char.

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char ³ American  

[chahr] / tʃɑr /

noun

1. a charwoman.

2. a task, especially a household chore.

3. chars, odd jobs, especially of housework, for which one is paid by the hour or day.

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verb (used without object)

charred, charring

1. to work at housecleaning by the day or hour; hire oneself out to do odd jobs.

verb (used with object)

charred, charring

1. to do (housework, odd jobs, or chores); clean or repair.

char ⁴ American  

[chahr] / tʃɑr /

noun

British Informal.

1. tea.

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Char ⁵ American  

[shar] / ʃar /

noun

1. René 1907–1988, French poet.

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char. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. character.

2. charter.

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char ¹ British  

/ tʃɑː /

verb

1. to burn or be burned partially, esp so as to blacken the surface; scorch

2. (tr) to reduce (wood) to charcoal by partial combustion

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char ² British  

/ tʃɑː /

noun

1. informal short for charwoman

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verb

1. informal to do housework, cleaning, etc, as a job

char ³ British  

/ tʃɑː /

noun

1. any of various troutlike fishes of the genus Salvelinus, esp S. alpinus, occurring in cold lakes and northern seas: family Salmonidae (salmon)

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char ⁴ British  

/ tʃɑː /

noun

1. a slang word for tea

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• char
  plural
• chars
  plural

Etymology

Origin of char¹

First recorded in 1670–80; apparently extracted from charcoal; see chark

Origin of char²

First recorded in 1655–65; perhaps unattested Old English ceorra literally, “turner,” derivative of ceorran “to turn,” it being thought of as swimming to and fro time and again; see char ³

Origin of char³

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, Old English cerr, cierr “turn, time, occasion, affair,” derivative of cierran “to turn”

Origin of char⁴

First recorded in 1915–20; from Hindi cā “tea” ( see tea); for spelling with r cf. arvo, Parcheesi ( def. )

Explanation

To char is to burn or blacken something so that it’s like charcoal but still tasty. A char is something that has been burned in this way. To char is to burn something on the outside. If you've ever eaten a hot dog or hamburger cooked over an open flame, it was charred. Many people like the taste of char-grilled meat. To char doesn’t usually mean to burn all the way, just enough to blacken. Unfortunately, char can also mean to reduce to charcoal — if there's a house fire, couches and chairs could be charred. Not so delicious.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

char Char chars charred charring

He was told that with a wildfire, the only contaminants are soot, ash and char.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

The smell hits first, garlic and char on skewered meat, chiles brushed over buns, oyster sauce mingling with the syrupy edge of black vinegar on sizzling noodles.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

Under the bill, however, insurers would be required to cover testing for lead, asbestos and other contaminants that have been found in soot, char and ash inside homes after a wildfire.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026

When you try to set fire to wood treated with Burnblock, the material forms a protective layer of char, explains Mr Bay-Smidt.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025

“Like stone under the saw. Try a chisel, like iron. Then, after all the shouting was done, I couldn’t char it.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Practically, when it comes to invasion, the PLA is "still hampered by the limited number of amphibious combined arms brigades" it currently has, said NTU's Char.

From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026

“We know the disparities exist, but they become shockingly obvious,” said Char Miller, an environmental analysis professor at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026

Most known for its char kway teow, a wok-fried noodle dish with egg, shrimp, Chinese sausage and a hint of spice, head to Left-handed Char Koay Teow or Goggles Man Char Kuey Teow.

From Salon ● Nov. 15, 2025

Char Miller, a professor of environmental history at Pomona College and author of “Burn Scars,” a history of U.S. wildfire suppression, said new development was the “spark plug” for many of the region’s fires.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2025

“If I get in trouble for you, you gonna have to move to another neighborhood,” Char is saying.

From "The Skin I'm In" by Sharon G. Flake

Avcoat is a mix of silica fibers, phenolic microballoons, and epoxy resin that chars and erodes, removing heat away.

From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026

But this time, Spears chars her publicly despised ex-boyfriend with accusations of cultural appropriation.

From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2023

The near-direct heat chars the peaks of the skewered meat, and the valleys catch little pools of caramelizing sauce.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 11, 2023

The governor recently visited Washington to talk with top officials about wildfire recovery as the largest blaze burning in the U.S. chars more tinder dry forest in northern New Mexico.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 15, 2022

The fuel is charcoal, which the smelter makes by burning wood in a heap more or less covered with earth, in such a way that the wood chars rather than burns away.

From Chatterbox, 1906 by J. Erskine (John Erskine) Clarke

In the ashes there is a charred page from an English language textbook: "My name is William, I'm from the UK. My grandmother lives in Nottingham. It's a beautiful city."

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

It’s a potent cocktail made of Coca-Cola and clear spirits that tavern co-owner Owen Walsh drummed up in honor of the unexpected guest that made landfall a few days ago: a charred spacecraft.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

Along the roads around Izyum burnt-out shells of petrol stations have become part of the landscape, heaps of mangled, charred metal.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Left behind is a charred out refrigerator, bed frames, a worn out and graffiti-covered couch, piles of left-behind clothes and the burnt debris of the home that once stood there.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

Some of the closer tents are splattered with mud, but none are burned despite the charred ground surrounding them.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Images captured by divers shortly after splashdown, along with follow-up checks aboard the recovery ship, show that the charring seen during Artemis I was significantly reduced in both size and amount.

From Science Daily ● May 4, 2026

An unlikely, spicy, crunchy retooling of spaghetti with chili-spiked tomato sauce, it requires cooking the pasta and the sauce in the same pan, to the point of charring.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025

Ean's cause of death could not be determined but a forensic pathologist told the court there were areas of charring to soft tissue and bone.

From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2025

On Dec. 27, 1956, a wildfire broke out near Zuma Beach, eventually charring 26,000 acres and destroying 100 homes.

From Salon ● Jan. 26, 2025

“Just blisters. Painful, but no charring, no long-term loss of mobility.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

Related Words

• burn