Charcoal Meaning
/ˈtʃɑː.kəʊl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounimpure carbon obtained by destructive distillation of wood or other organic matter, that is, heating it in the absence of oxygen.
nounA stick of black carbon material used for drawing.
Sentence Examples
Coal, charcoal, coal coke and petroleum coke are used as fuels.
The artist's drawing was drawn with charcoal.
CEFR Practice Quiz
For the outdoor barbecue, we need to buy a bag of ____ to light in the grill.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We used some ____ to start the grill for our family barbecue today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English charcole, from charren (“to change, turn”) + cole (“coal”), from Old English cierran (“to change, turn”) + col (“coal”). By surface analysis, char (Etymology 3 [verb]) + coal.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The grate was laid with charcoal, to that she put a light, and then, as if she had forgotten something, hurried to the library, and carefully locked the door. First returning to see that the fire had kindled, she then went to the window, which, with the first gleam of moonlight, she cautiously unclosed, and stepped into the shrubbery."
— 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 325–326:
"But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries. By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal."
— 2006, Edwin Black, chapter 2, in Internal Combustion:
"He takes the prepared charcoal used by artists, brings it to a white heat, and suddenly plunges it in a bath of mercury, of which the globules instantly penetrate the pores of charcoal, and may be said to metallize it."
— 1879, Th Du Moncel, The Telephone, the Microphone and the Phonograph, page 166:
"Two vultures […] stood silent side by side like smoking coworkers on break, one charcoal eye staring back at me indifferently."
— 2020, “Zoo”, in Still at the Rough Cusp of Renaissance, performed by Good Fuck:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
For the outdoor barbecue, we need to buy a bag of ____ to light in the grill.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We used some ____ to start the grill for our family barbecue today.