anthracite

American  

[an-thruh-sahyt] / ˈæn θrəˌsaɪt /

noun

1. a mineral coal containing little of the volatile hydrocarbons and burning almost without flame; hard coal.

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anthracite British  

/ ˈænθrəˌsaɪt, ˌænθrəˈsɪtɪk /

noun

1. Also called: hard coal.  a hard jet-black coal that burns slowly with a nonluminous flame giving out intense heat. Fixed carbon content: 86–98 per cent; calorific value: 3.14 × 10 ⁷ –3.63 × 10 ⁷ J/kg

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anthracite Scientific  

/ ăn′thrə-sīt′ /

1. A hard, shiny coal that has a high carbon content. It is valued as a fuel because it burns with a clean flame and without smoke or odor, but it is much less abundant than bituminous coal.

2. Compare bituminous coal lignite

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Other Word Forms

• anthracitic adjective
• anthracitous adjective

Etymology

Origin of anthracite

1810–15; probably < French < Latin (Pliny) anthracītis kind of coal. See anthrac-, -ite ¹

Compare meaning

How does anthracite compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• anthracite vs. bituminous coal

Example Sentences

Heavy equipment excavate anthracite coal from a strip mine in New Castle, Pennsylvania, U.S.,

From Reuters • May 25, 2022

The coal here is clean coal, it's anthracite and it's very, very good for filtration.

From BBC • Nov. 5, 2021

On April 13, an anthracite gray Volkswagen van pulled into Les Poulières.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 4, 2021

With even more heat and pressure driving out all the volatiles and leaving pure carbon, anthracite can turn to graphite.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

The air was stale and still, suffused with the scent of rotten peaches, horse excrement, and partially combusted Illinois anthracite.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson