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

See Examples For:

coal tar

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

An environmental organization that monitors the Potomac River is suing Alexandria, charging that the Northern Virginia city has been allowing coal tar and other cancer-causing pollutants to contaminate the waterway for decades.

From Washington Post ● May 25, 2022

Are we using our sky as a giant slag heap, the magazine’s readers wondered, the air filled with carbon dioxide just as coal tar had clogged up the rivers?

From Slate ● Dec. 20, 2021

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

The man lay down on the coal tar.

From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie