Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Like or containing bitumen.
  • adjective Of or relating to bituminous coal.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of the nature of or resembling bitumen.
  • Containing bitumen, or made up in part of the hydrocarbons which form asphaltum, maltha, and petroleum. See petroleum.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Having the qualities of bitumen; compounded with bitumen; containing bitumen.
  • adjective a kind of coal which yields, when heated, a considerable amount of volatile bituminous matter. It burns with a yellow smoky flame.
  • adjective a mineral of a brown or black color, emitting an unpleasant smell when rubbed. That of Dalmatia is so charged with bitumen that it may be cut like soap.
  • adjective an argillaceous shale impregnated with bitumen, often accompanying coal.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to bitumen.
  • noun uncountable Bituminous coal.
  • noun countable A type or grade of bituminous coal.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective resembling or containing bitumen

Etymologies

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Examples

  • WHEREAS there exists a labor dispute between certain bituminous coal operators and associations and certain of their employees represented by the International Union, United Mine Workers of America, involving wages and terms and conditions of employment; and

    EXECUTIVE ORDER 10106 1950

  • WHEREAS the Secretary of the Interior on May 22, 1946, pursuant to Executive Order No. 9728 issued by me on May 21, 1946,1 took possession of certain bituminous coal mines, including the mines of the Carter Coal Company located in McDowell County, West Virginia; and

    EXECUTIVE ORDER 9758 1946

  • About 85 percent of the resources in place are classified as bituminous or sub-bituminous (hard) coal; the rest is lignite (soft brown) coal.

    Chapter 9 2000

  • The dull coal is called bituminous, because it contains more bitumen or mineral pitch.

    Diggers in the Earth Eva March Tappan 1892

  • A statue of a coal miner adorns the grounds of the state Capitol, and last year the Legislature voted unanimously to name bituminous coal the official rock of West Virginia, saying the "industry remains essential to economic growth and progress in West Virginia and the United States."

    The Shad Plank 2010

  • A statue of a coal miner adorns the grounds of the state Capitol, and last year the Legislature voted unanimously to name bituminous coal the official rock of West Virginia, saying the "industry remains essential to economic growth and progress in West Virginia and the United States."

    The Shad Plank 2010

  • A statue of a coal miner adorns the grounds of the state Capitol, and last year the Legislature voted unanimously to name bituminous coal the official rock of West Virginia, saying the "industry remains essential to economic growth and progress in West Virginia and the United States."

    WBAY Action 2 News 2010

  • A statue of a coal miner adorns the grounds of the state Capitol, and last year the Legislature voted unanimously to name bituminous coal the official rock of West Virginia, saying the "industry remains essential to economic growth and progress in West Virginia and the United States."

    10News.com - Local News 2010

  • A statue of a coal miner adorns the grounds of the state Capitol, and last year the Legislature voted unanimously to name bituminous coal the official rock of West Virginia, saying the "industry remains essential to economic growth and progress in West Virginia and the United States."

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2010

  • A statue of a coal miner adorns the grounds of the state Capitol, and last year the Legislature voted unanimously to name bituminous coal the official rock of West Virginia, saying the "industry remains essential to economic growth and progress in West Virginia and the United States."

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2010

Comments

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  • For two years his eyes had been subdued to the atmospheric effects of London, to the mysterious fusion of darkly-piled city and low-lying bituminous sky...

    - Edith Wharton, The Reef

    June 18, 2008

  • See: bitumen.

    October 3, 2008

  • One of my favorite words for making stuff up.

    I think it might rain. Those look like bituminous clouds.

    You should have a doctor look at that. It looks pretty bituminous.

    May 23, 2009

  • "There are roof emerging from the river. A line of sunken houses, built on the wrong side of the wall, pressed up against the bank in the water, their bituminous black bricks dripping." From Perdido Street Station by China Meiville.

    September 18, 2011