Coal Definition
kōl
coals
noun
coals
A kind of dark-brown to black, combustible, sedimentary rock resulting from the partial decomposition of vegetable matter away from air and under varying degrees of increased temperature and pressure over a period of millions of years: used as a fuel and in the production of coke, coal gas, water gas, and many coal-tar compounds.
Webster's New World
A piece (or collectively, pieces) of this rock.
Webster's New World
A piece of glowing or charred wood, coal, or similar substance; ember.
Webster's New World
Charcoal.
Webster's New World
(uncountable) A black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.
Wiktionary
verb
coals
To reduce (a substance) to charcoal by burning.
Webster's New World
To take in a supply of coal.
Webster's New World
To provide with coal.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
idiom
haul over the coals
- to criticize sharply; censure; scold
Webster's New World
heap coals of fire on someone's head
- to cause someone to feel remorse by returning good for evil: Prov. 25:22
Webster's New World
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Coal
- haul over the coals
- heap coals of fire on someone's head
Origin of Coal
-
From Middle English cole, from Old English col, from Proto-Germanic *kulą, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷol- (compare Irish gúal (“coal”), Tocharian B śoliye (“hearth”), Persian زغال (zuvāl, “live coal”)), from *gʷelH- ‘to glow, burn’ (compare Lithuanian žvìlti (“to twinkle, glow”), Sanskrit ज्वलति (jvalati, “to burn, glow”)).
From Wiktionary
Middle English col from Old English
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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