carbonize

American  

[kahr-buh-nahyz] / ˈkɑr bəˌnaɪz /

especially British, carbonise

verb (used with object)

carbonized, carbonizing

1. to char (organic matter) until it forms carbon.

2. to coat or enrich with carbon.

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verb (used without object)

carbonized, carbonizing

1. to become carbonized.

carbonize British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

• carbonizable adjective
• carbonization noun
• carbonizer noun
• uncarbonized adjective

Etymology

Origin of carbonize

First recorded in 1800–10; carbon + -ize

Example Sentences

Later, she drives through a part of the forest that burned the year before to see “mile upon mile of carbonized trees and denuded earth, a now-familiar scene of extinguished life.”

From Los Angeles Times

None of these substances were found outside the skull, in the volcanic ash in which the carbonized, skeletal remains were buried.

From Salon

"The peculiar preservation of Tridentinosaurus had puzzled experts for decades. Now, it all makes sense. What it was described as carbonized skin, is just paint."

From Science Daily

“When you see black, that means it is charred, burned; it’s carbonized, and we have a big problem,” he says.

From Scientific American

Edison’s first practical light bulb used a carbonized cotton thread for that purpose; modern bulbs use tungsten filaments in an inert gas.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• burn