methane

[meth-eyn; British mee-theyn]

See more synonyms for methane on Thesaurus.com

noun Chemistry.

a colorless, odorless, flammable gas, CH4, the main constituent of marsh gas and the firedamp of coal mines, obtained commercially from natural gas: the first member of the methane, or alkane, series of hydrocarbons.

Origin of methane

First recorded in 1865–70; meth- + -ane

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for methane

methane

Examples from the Web for methane

Contemporary Examples of methane

That can happen, according to the report, when (flammable) methane leaks out of fracking wells and into drinking water.
New York’s Conservative Fracking Ban
Jay Michaelson
December 20, 2014
Methane could be produced by microbes on Mars, too, if they exist in enough numbers.
Methane on Mars: Life or Just Gas?
Matthew R. Francis
December 17, 2014
Methane (chemical formula CH4) is one of the simplest hydrocarbons, which literally means “containing hydrogen and carbon.”
Methane on Mars: Life or Just Gas?
Matthew R. Francis
December 17, 2014
Methane is a familiar chemical, whether you know it by that name or not.
Methane on Mars: Life or Just Gas?
Matthew R. Francis
December 17, 2014
Perhaps the mysterious Martian methane, and its strange fluctuations, are part of that story.
Methane on Mars: Life or Just Gas?
Matthew R. Francis
December 17, 2014

Historical Examples of methane

In some series, as the methane series, the higher members are solids.
An Elementary Study of Chemistry
William McPherson
Only two of them, methane and acetylene, will be discussed here.
An Elementary Study of Chemistry
William McPherson
It could insinuate itself into places where neither the methane nor the ammonia could get.
Unwise Child
Gordon Randall Garrett
Two of the planets were enveloped in methane, but the third had an earth-normal atmosphere.
Impact
Irving E. Cox
It consists of a number of saturated hydrocarbons of the methane series.
The Preservation of Antiquities
Friedrich Rathgen

British Dictionary definitions for methane

methane

noun

a colourless odourless flammable gas, the simplest alkane and the main constituent of natural gas: used as a fuel. Formula: CH 4See also marsh gas, firedamp

Word Origin for methane

C19: from meth (yl) + -ane

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

Word Origin and History for methane

"inflammable colorless and odorless gas, marsh gas," 1867, coined from methyl + chemical suffix -ane.

methane in Medicine

methane

[mĕth′ān′]

An odorless, colorless, flammable gas that is the major constituent of natural gas and is used as a fuel and as an important source of hydrogen.marsh gas

methane in Science

methane

[mĕth′ān′]

A colorless, odorless, flammable gas that is the simplest hydrocarbon. It is the major constituent of natural gas and is released during the decomposition of plant or other organic compounds, as in marshes and coal mines. Methane is the first member of the alkane series. Chemical formula: CH4.