coal tar

American  

noun

1. a thick, black, viscid liquid formed during the distillation of coal, that upon further distillation yields compounds, as benzene, anthracene, and phenol, from which are derived a large number of dyes, drugs, and other synthetic compounds, and that yields a final residuum coal-tar pitch, which is used chiefly in making pavements.

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coal tar British  

noun

1. a black tar, produced by the distillation of bituminous coal, that can be further distilled to yield benzene, toluene, xylene, anthracene, phenol, etc

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coal tar Scientific  

1. A thick, sticky, black liquid obtained through the destructive distillation (heating in the absence of air) of coal. It is used as a source of many organic compounds, such as benzene, naphthalene, and phenols, which are used in dyes, drugs, and other compounds.

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Other Word Forms

• coal-tar
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of coal tar

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

A predecessor had operated an unclean gas plant around a century ago, the company said, and had in the process dumped a material akin to coal tar into the river, trapping artifacts in the sediment.

From Washington Times • Nov. 14, 2023

The coal tar contamination is one of several environmental issues the city has been struggling with due to aging pipes in Old Town.

From Washington Post • May 25, 2022

This is in part the work of indole, an aromatic compound present in foul-smelling substances like coal tar and feces, which in trace amounts gives the most delicate of flowers an almost animal opulence.

From New York Times • Oct. 11, 2021

Fahlberg was a chemist doing routine work on coal tar at Johns Hopkins University in 1879.

From Slate • Feb. 12, 2019

Rode in the boot of a small auto belonging to a chum of Papa Thibaut’s, a Citroen Rosalie—4-cylinder engine, at least 10 years old, running—just—on a disgusting mix of coal tar and sugar-beet ethanol.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein