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Coal

//kəʊl// adj, name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective

1
Black like coal; coal-black. no-comparative
"... his coal hair / the corners of his warm smile / the blue of his gentle eyes. I wanted to explore him as Sir Francis Drake explored the New World. I wanted to tell my secrets to him as a Roman Catholic does in confession."

Proper Noun

1
An unincorporated community in Henry County, Missouri, United States, named after early settler Stephen Coale.
2
An unincorporated community and coal town in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States.
3
Four townships in the United States, in Missouri, Ohio (2), and Pennsylvania, listed under Coal Township.

Noun

1
A black or brownish black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel. uncountable
"The coal in this region was prized by ironmasters in centuries past, who mined it in the spots where the drainage methods of the day permitted."
2
a hot fragment of wood or coal that is left from a fire and is glowing or smoldering wordnet
3
A black or brownish black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.; A type of coal, such as bituminous, anthracite, or lignite, and grades and varieties thereof, as a fuel commodity ready to buy and burn. countable
"Put some coal on the fire."
4
fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period wordnet
5
A piece of coal used for burning (this use is less common in American English) countable
"Put some coals on the fire."

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6
A glowing or charred piece of coal, wood, or other solid fuel. countable
"hot coals"
7
Charcoal. countable, uncountable
8
Content of low quality. Internet, countable, uncountable
"I'm so sick of seeing this coal online."
9
Bombs emitting black smoke on impact. countable, slang, uncountable
10
Money. countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable

Verb

1
To take on a supply of coal (usually of steam ships or locomotives). intransitive
"1863, Colonial Secretary to Commander Baldwin, USN shortly after that she coaled again at Simon's Bay; and that after remaining in the neighbourhood of our ports for a time, she proceeded to Mauritius, where she coaled again, and then returned to this colony."
2
take in coal wordnet
3
To supply with coal. transitive
"to coal a steamer"
4
supply with coal wordnet
5
To be converted to charcoal. intransitive
"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."

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6
burn to charcoal wordnet
7
To burn to charcoal; to char. transitive
"Char-coal of roots, coaled into great pieces."
8
To mark or delineate with charcoal. transitive
"[…] marvailing, he coaled out these rithms upon the wall near to the picture"

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English cole, from Old English col, from Proto-West Germanic *kol, from Proto-Germanic *kulą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵwelH- (“to burn, shine”). Cognate with West Frisian koal (“coal”), Cimbrian kholl (“coal”), Dutch kool (“coal; carbon”), German Kohle (“coal”), Luxembourgish Kuel (“coal”), Vilamovian köła (“coal”), Yiddish קויל (koyl, “coal”), Danish kul (“coal”), Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish kol (“coal; carbon”), Jamtish kuł (“coal; carbon”). Compare Middle Irish gúal (“coal”), Lithuanian žvi̇̀lti (“to twinkle, glow”), Persian زغال (zoġâl, “live coal”), Sanskrit ज्वल् (jval, “to burn, glow”), Tocharian B śoliye (“hearth”), all from the same root.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

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