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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

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

Hot and dry noodles with seafood, Beijing crêpes filled with satay beef, Sichuan pancakes stuffed with char siu pork.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

First Graphene says it works by forming a protective gas barrier, preventing the release of volatile compounds prior to ignition, and also a char layer should ignition occur.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025

You burn it and char it, and you use it to build fences or whatever it is you’re trying to build.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 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

Last year, the 68-year-old and his wife, Char Robbins, went to Oktoberfest in Germany, took a Rhône river cruise and visited “Liechtenstein for a day just to say we’ve been there,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

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

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

Mr. Pajolli tells Char to move along, to get to class.

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

“It’s like in forest fires where big, old-growth trees survive by charcoaling. The exterior chars, but the inside survives.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2025

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

For example, cooking a steak over a high heat, especially an open flame, chars the outside.

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2023

First of all it chars, then there is a little sparkling, but not much, finally the soil turns red and does not change any further no matter how much it is heated.

From Lessons on Soil by E. J. Russell

Only a small number of the charred scrolls from Herculaneum's Villa of the Papyri have so far been virtually opened and deciphered.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

The Dome fire has charred more than 3,000 acres since it ignited on Tuesday just north of Wawona Dome in Yosemite, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

A scorched aircraft and charred storage container were being examined at the scene of the incident on Wednesday.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Six months after Harley Di Nardo’s sister Marisa vanished when jets struck the Twin Towers, police knocked on the door of the Di Nardo family home carrying Marisa’s charred, black purse, found in the rubble.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

A white one like Grandma and Grandpop’s, the roof caved in and half the house charred black.

From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds

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

Modelling suggests this should reduce the heating and loads that caused extra charring, but this will be the first time the revised descent is flown with a crew.

From BBC ● Mar. 31, 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

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

Then I knew there was enough fire or charring on it to light off the base of fried palm fronds beneath the signal fire.

From "The Cay" by Theodore Taylor

Related Words

• burn