coal
a black or dark-brown combustible mineral substance consisting of carbonized vegetable matter, used as a fuel.: Compare anthracite, bituminous coal, lignite.
a piece of glowing, charred, or burned wood or other combustible substance.
to burn to coal or charcoal.
to provide with coal.
to take in coal for fuel.
Idioms about coal
heap coals of fire on someone's head, to repay evil with good in order to make one's enemy repent.
rake / haul / drag / call / take over the coals, to reprimand; scold: They were raked over the coals for turning out slipshod work.
Origin of coal
1Other words from coal
- coalless, adjective
Words that may be confused with coal
Words Nearby coal
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use coal in a sentence
In some parts of the country right now that rely 60 percent or more for electricity generation on coal power, moving to electricity could increase GHG emissions.
GM wants its cars to be fully electric by 2035. Here’s what that could mean for auto emissions. | Ula Chrobak | February 4, 2021 | Popular-ScienceIn 2019, more than 66 percent of the electricity in China was generated using coal power, which is a leading contributor to air pollution in China.
The Environmental Challenges of China's Recovery After COVID-19 | Yanzhong Huang | February 2, 2021 | TimeIn coal plants, supplying the coal accounts for about 40 percent of total expenses.
Solar power got cheap. So why aren’t we using it more? | Ula Chrobak | January 28, 2021 | Popular-ScienceMore than 40 percent of coal mined in the United States comes from federal land, and in 2016, the Obama administration hit pause on coal leasing there, pending a review of the program.
Not even Naunchik, who hails from a long lineage of union coal miners, aluminum millers, teachers, and machinists in western Pennsylvania, wants a work-stoppage strike to happen.
Why Ski Patrollers Are Picketing at Two Vail Resorts | Scott Yorko | January 20, 2021 | Outside Online
Good governance would mean sticks and coal for too many of our favorite politicians.
There was Milan Hruška, a fiery miner from the North Bohemian coal mines.
Life can be tough in West Virginia, especially for the hardworking souls of coal country.
Local News Anchor Dances At His Desk | Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video | November 6, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe also says Rahall made millions off that “coal-killing” legislation, which is patently false.
The Strangest, Cheesiest, Most Brazenly False Political Ads of 2014 | Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe aforementioned stories may very well be legitimate, but let's consider them a sort of canary in the coal mine.
Brace Yourself: October Election Surprises Surely on the Way | Matt Lewis | October 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was little better than coal dust, and would not carry a ball fifty paces to kill or wound.
Of late, however, it has acquired a far greater interest through the discovery of coal underneath its surface.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham | Thomas T. Harman and Walter ShowellAnd one of the seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousAn explosion took place in the Blackheath coal mines, Virginia; by which of the twenty-three workmen only one escaped death.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellBut its use as such is to dispose of any such idea as that there is a natural price of coal or of anything else.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen Leacock
British Dictionary definitions for coal
/ (kəʊl) /
a combustible compact black or dark-brown carbonaceous rock formed from compaction of layers of partially decomposed vegetation: a fuel and a source of coke, coal gas, and coal tar: See also anthracite, bituminous coal, lignite, peat 1
(as modifier): coal cellar; coal merchant; coal mine; coal dust
one or more lumps of coal
short for charcoal
coals to Newcastle something supplied where it is already plentiful
haul someone over the coals to reprimand someone
to take in, provide with, or turn into coal
Origin of coal
1Derived forms of coal
- coaly, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for coal
[ kōl ]
A dark-brown to black solid substance formed from the compaction and hardening of fossilized plant parts in the presence of water and in the absence of air. Carbonaceous material accounts for more than 50 percent of coal's weight and more than 70 percent of its volume. Coal is widely used as a fuel, and its combustion products are used as raw material for a variety of products including cement, asphalt, wallboard and plastics. See more at anthracite bituminous coal lignite.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with coal
see carry coals to Newcastle; rake over the coals.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse