coal

/koʊl/

/kəʊl/

Other forms: coals; coaling; coaled

Coal is a mineral, a black rock that can be extracted from the earth and burned for fuel. Most of the electricity that's produced in the world is powered by the burning of coal.

Coal may seem like an old-fashioned fuel, making you think of steam locomotives that ran on coal, or coal fires heating homes in the nineteenth century. Some people still burn coal in stoves today, although most coal is burned on a much larger scale, generating electricity for entire towns and cities. You can also use the noun coal to mean a glowing ember in your fireplace or backyard grill. In Old English, it was col, from a Germanic root.

Definitions of coal

1. noun

   fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period
   types:

   anthracite, anthracite coal, hard coal

   a hard natural coal that burns slowly and gives intense heat

   bituminous coal, soft coal

   rich in tarry hydrocarbons; burns readily with a smoky yellow flame

   brown coal, lignite, wood coal

   intermediate between peat and bituminous coal

   steam coal

   coal suitable for use under steam boilers

   cannel coal

   a bituminous coal that burns with a luminous flame

   sea coal

   pulverized bituminous coal; used as a foundry facing

   jet

   a hard black form of lignite that takes a brilliant polish and is used in jewelry or ornamentation

   type of:

   fossil fuel

   fuel consisting of the remains of organisms preserved in rocks in the earth's crust with high carbon and hydrogen content

   vegetable matter

   matter produced by plants or growing in the manner of a plant
2. verb

   supply with coal
   type of:

   furnish, provide, render, supply

   give something useful or necessary to
3. verb

   take in coal
   “The big ship coaled”

   type of:

   gather in, take in

   fold up
4. noun

   a hot fragment of wood or coal that is left from a fire and is glowing or smoldering
   synonyms: ember

   type of:

   fragment

   a piece broken off or cut off of something else
5. verb

   burn to charcoal
   synonyms: char

   type of:

   burn, combust

   cause to burn or combust