Methane

//ˈmiːθeɪn// noun

noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The simplest aliphatic hydrocarbon, CH₄, being a constituent of natural gas, and one of the most abundant greenhouse gases. uncountable

    "Cattle emit a large amount of methane."

  2. 2
    a colorless odorless gas used as a fuel wordnet
  3. 3
    Any of very many derivatives of methane. countable

Synonyms

All synonyms
alcoholammoniabenzinebriquetteburnablebutane

Example

More examples

"Titan's black rivers and black lakes of methane were a sight to behold with ringed Saturn and the faint distant sun in the cloudy horizon."

Etymology

From methyl + -ane.

Related phrases

coalbed methanemethane clathratemethane gasmethane hydratemethane icemethane rainmethanesulfonic acidnatural gas

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.