Coal definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (54)

American Heritage Dictionary (7)

noun A natural dark brown to black graphitelike material used as a fuel, formed from fossilized plants and consisting of amorphous carbon with various organic and some inorganic compounds.
noun A piece of this substance.
noun A glowing or charred piece of solid fuel.

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Century Dictionary (39)

A piece of wood or other combustible substance, either ignited or burning (a “live coal” or “glowing coal”), or burned out or charred (a “dead coal,” charcoal, cinder). A quic col berninde ope ane hyeape of dyeade coles [A live coal burning upon a heap of dead coals]. Ayenbite of Inwyt, p. 205. To cold coles sche schal be brent. William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), l. 4367. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. Prov. xxvi. 21. If he could burn us all into one coal, We have deserv'd it. Shak., Cor., iv. 6.
A solid and more or less distinctly stratified mineral, varying in color from dark-brown to black, brittle, combustible, and used as a fuel, not fusible without decomposition, and very insoluble. It is the result of the transformation of organic matter, and is distinguished by its fossil origin from charcoal (def. 1). which is obtained by the direct carbonization of wood. (See coal-plant.) Coal always contains more or less earthy matter, which is left behind in the form of ash after combustion. The quantity of the ash varies considerably, but in good coal does not usually exceed from 5 to 10 per cent. in weight. Coal can, however, be used for fuel, in default of a better material, when the amount of ash is much larger than this. Coal consists essentially of carbon, together with hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen; and sulphur is rarely if ever absent. The most general subdivision of coal is into hard and soft. The former is that coal which consists almost entirely of carbon; the latter is that in which there is a considerable percentage of hydrogen. Hard coal is generally called anthracite; bituminous coal, or simply coal, is the designation of the ordinary soft coal almost everywhere in general use where coal is burned, except in the eastern and Atlantic United States. In anthracite the bituminous or volatile matter constitutes usually less than 7 per cent. of the whole; in soft or bituminous coal it is usually more than 18 per cent. Coal intermediate in character between anthracite and bituminous coal is called semi-anthracite or semi-bituminous, according as it approaches anthracite or bituminous coal more nearly in character. The material driven off from coal on ignition is not really bitumen, for coal is insoluble, while bitumen is soluble. The name comes from the fact that bituminous coal behaves on being heated very much as bitumen itself does—that is, it swells up more or less, fuses together, and burns with a bright flame and considerable dense smoke. Coal occurs in all the geological formations, from the lowest in which land-plants have been found (the Devonian) up to the highest; but the coal of the great manufacturing countries, England, France, Germany, and the eastern United States, is nearly all of the same geological age, and is obtained from the formation called the Carboniferous. (See carboniferous.) The coal of Australia, India, and a part of that of China is of later geological age than the Carboniferous, being Mesozoic, and not Paleozoic. There is also a large quantity of good coal in various parts of the world in formations even more recent than the Mesozoic. In general, however, from the time of the Carboniferous on, the conditions were continually growing less favorable for the formation of coal on a large scale; so that each successive age has less coal to show, and that on an average of poorer quality than the coal of the true Carboniferous epoch. (See lignite.) Also called stone-coal, mineral coal, and formerly sea-coal. [Coal in this sense is used as a collective noun without a plural; but in Great Britain the plural form is also used in speaking of a quantity of coal, with reference to the pieces composing it: as, to lay in a supply of coals; put more coals on the fire.] Col groweth vnder lond. Trevisa, tr. of Higden's Polychronicon, I. 399. A peck of coals a-piece shall glad the rest. Pope, Dunciad, ii. 282.
Albert coal. Same as albertite.

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Nearly 3,800 people died in Chinese coal mines last year, according to official figures, although independent monitors say the real figure is likely to be higher as many accidents are covered up. — thedaily.com.au: Breaking News
The country's top workplace safety official said in January that corruption and ineptitude were major factors in the horrific number of deaths in Chinese coal mines. — thedaily.com.au: Breaking News
Flooding traps 33 in Chinese coal mine: state media — Raw Story
The announcement is more bad news for coal -- coal fired power plants are a big contributor to mercury emissions. — TreeHugger
Some energy sources are continuous: coal can be fed into a boiler at any desired rate, as long as the coal is available. — Global Public Media - Public Service Broadcasting For A Post Carbon World

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Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

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fuel · iron · charcoal · ash · grain · ore · tobacco · salt · corn · clay · food · cotton

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coal: coals

Etymologies (3)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English col, from Old English.

Century Dictionary (2)

Early modern English cole, from Middle English cole, col, from Anglo-Saxon col, neuter, = OFries. kole, NFries. koal, feminine, = Middle Dutch kole, Dutch kool, feminine, = Middle Low German kole, kale, Low German käle, also kol, kal, feminine, = Old High German chol, Middle High German kol, neuter, Old High German cholo, kolo, Middle High German kole, kol, masculine, German kohle, feminine, = Icelandic Norwegian Swedish kol = Danish kul, neuter, coal (in both senses), orig. a burning coal; perhaps connected with Irish Gaelic gual, coal, and ult. with Sanskrit √ jval, burn bright, flame. The Gothic (Moesogothic) word for a burning coal was hauri, perhaps akin to Anglo-Saxon heorth, English hearth. Cf. French houille, Walloon hole, Middle Latin hullæ, mineral coal; Greek ἄνθραξ, a burning coal, also mineral coal (see anthracite), Latin carbo(n-), a burning coal, charcoal, in modern use mineral coal (see carbon).
= Dutch kolen, warm with coals, = Middle Low German kolen = German kohlen = Swedish kola, burn to charcoal; from the noun.

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