coal
//kəʊl//
Forms
- Plural
- coals
- present (v1)
- coal
- past (v2)
- coaled
- past participle (v3)
- coaled
- present participle
- coaling
- 3rd person singular
- coals
Definitions
1.A black or brownish black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.
- Order some coal from the coalyard.
- Coal-eaters they may have been, but a more willing or harder working Atlantic engine was never designed.
- Put some coal on the fire.
2.Charcoal.
3.A piece of coal used for burning (this use is less common in American English)
- Put some coals on the fire.
4.A glowing or charred piece of coal, wood, or other solid fuel.
- Just as the campfire died down to just coals, with no flames to burn the marshmallows, someone dumped a whole load of wood on, so I gave up and went to bed.
1.To be converted to charcoal.
- As a result, particles of wood and twigs insufficiently coaled are frequently found at the bottom of such pits.
- After the initial burn the goal of any good fire should be coaling; that is, creating a bed of solid coals that will sustain the fire.
2.To burn to charcoal; to char.
- Char-coal of roots, coaled into great pieces.
3.To take on a supply of coal (usually of steam ships or locomotives).
- The light shook and splintered in the puddles. A red glare came from an outward-bound steamer that was coaling.
- N.W.R. four-cylinder 4-6-2 class "XS1," No. 761, coaling at Delhi junction. This class is the most powerful passenger engine in India.
- Our next stopping-place was Newcastle, and here we coaled in earnest, for the steamer was flying light, and was loaded up in every available place.
4.To supply with coal.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3306
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English col, from Old English col, from Proto-West Germanic *kol, from Proto-Germanic *kulą (“coal”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵwelH- (“to burn, shine”).
Cognates