methane
[meth-eyn; British mee-theyn]
- 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.
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Origin of methane
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for methane
Contemporary Examples
That can happen, according to the report, when (flammable) methane leaks out of fracking wells and into drinking water.
Methane could be produced by microbes on Mars, too, if they exist in enough numbers.
Methane (chemical formula CH4) is one of the simplest hydrocarbons, which literally means “containing hydrogen and carbon.”
Methane is a familiar chemical, whether you know it by that name or not.
Perhaps the mysterious Martian methane, and its strange fluctuations, are part of that story.
Historical Examples
In some series, as the methane series, the higher members are solids.
An Elementary Study of ChemistryWilliam McPherson
Only two of them, methane and acetylene, will be discussed here.
An Elementary Study of ChemistryWilliam McPherson
It could insinuate itself into places where neither the methane nor the ammonia could get.
Unwise ChildGordon Randall Garrett
Two of the planets were enveloped in methane, but the third had an earth-normal atmosphere.
ImpactIrving E. Cox
It consists of a number of saturated hydrocarbons of the methane series.
The Preservation of AntiquitiesFriedrich Rathgen
methane
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Word Origin
C19: from meth (yl) + -ane
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for methane
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.