CHARCOAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does charcoal mean? 

• CHARCOAL (noun)
  The noun CHARCOAL has 4 senses:

1. a carbonaceous material obtained by heating wood or other organic matter in the absence of air

2. a stick of black carbon material used for drawing

3. a very dark grey color

4. a drawing made with a stick of black carbon material

  Familiarity information: CHARCOAL used as a noun is uncommon.

• CHARCOAL (adjective)
  The adjective CHARCOAL has 1 sense:

1. of a very dark grey

  Familiarity information: CHARCOAL used as an adjective is very rare.

• CHARCOAL (verb)
  The verb CHARCOAL has 1 sense:

1. draw, trace, or represent with charcoal

  Familiarity information: CHARCOAL used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHARCOAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A carbonaceous material obtained by heating wood or other organic matter in the absence of air

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

charcoal; wood coal

Hypernyms ("charcoal" is a kind of...):

atomic number 6; C; carbon (an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds)

fuel (a substance that can be consumed to produce energy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A stick of black carbon material used for drawing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

charcoal; fusain

Hypernyms ("charcoal" is a kind of...):

writing implement (an implement that is used to write)

Derivation:

charcoal (draw, trace, or represent with charcoal)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A very dark grey color

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

charcoal; charcoal gray; charcoal grey; oxford gray; oxford grey

Hypernyms ("charcoal" is a kind of...):

gray; grayness; grey; greyness (a neutral achromatic color midway between white and black)

Derivation:

charcoal (of a very dark grey)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A drawing made with a stick of black carbon material

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("charcoal" is a kind of...):

drawing (a representation of forms or objects on a surface by means of lines)

Derivation:

charcoal (draw, trace, or represent with charcoal)

• CHARCOAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of a very dark grey

Synonyms:

charcoal; charcoal-gray; charcoal-grey

Similar:

achromatic; neutral (having no hue)

Derivation:

charcoal (a very dark grey color)

• CHARCOAL (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Draw, trace, or represent with charcoal

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "charcoal" is one way to...):

draw (represent by making a drawing of, as with a pencil, chalk, etc. on a surface)

"Charcoal" entails doing...:

delineate; describe; draw; line; trace (make a mark or lines on a surface)

Domain category:

art; artistic creation; artistic production (the creation of beautiful or significant things)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

Did he charcoal his major works over a short period of time?

Derivation:

charcoal (a stick of black carbon material used for drawing)

charcoal (a drawing made with a stick of black carbon material)

 Context examples 

In a hookah, charcoal is used to heat the tobacco.

(Hookah, NCI Dictionary)

There have been two murders, a vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Charcoal portraits came next, and the entire family hung in a row, looking as wild and crocky as if just evoked from a coalbin.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Nearly three billion people around the world are exposed to contaminants from biomass burning as a result of farming practices, deforestation, and burning wood or charcoal for fuel.

(Lung damage from agricultural fires probed, SciDev.Net)

They were neatly done in charcoal upon the white surface, and looked to me at first sight like some sort of rough musical score.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Alpha-galactosidase and activated charcoal are used against flatulence.

(Antiflatulent Agent, NCI Thesaurus)

The researchers created filter ‘bricks’ from sandy soil, charcoal, sawdust and iron scraps, and packed these into the barrels with gravel.

(Soil-based filter bricks clean up water for Moroccan farmers, SciDev.Net)

The evidence includes bits of charcoal, jumbles of rock brought in by a tsunami's backflow, and conspicuously absent sulfur.

(Rocks at asteroid impact site record first day of dinosaur extinction, National Science Foundation)

“It’s charcoal,” he cried.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Besides the signs of a struggle in the room of the unfortunate builder it is now known that the French windows of his bedroom (which is on the ground floor) were found to be open, that there were marks as if some bulky object had been dragged across to the wood-pile, and, finally, it is asserted that charred remains have been found among the charcoal ashes of the fire.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)