pea coal
Americannoun
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anthracite coal in sizes ranging from about 3/8 to about 13/16 inch (1 to 2 centimeters).
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bituminous coal in sizes ranging from about 3/8 to about 3/4 inch (1 to 1.9 centimeters).
Etymology
Origin of pea coal
First recorded in 1880–85
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Such fuel, some chestnut-sized, some no bigger than pea coal, and every now & then a nugget as big as a man's hand, has kept the carrousel spinning for 16 years.
From Time Magazine Archive
They shoveled and sifted their way through 150 tons of pea coal in basement bins.
From Time Magazine Archive
Ate pea coal," replied the professor promptly, "and the tiniest babies ate buckwheat coal.
From Concerning Sally by Hopkins, William John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
