coal
part of speech
noun (coal, uncountable; a coal, coals)
meaning for a pupil
1) Coal is a hard black rock that is burned as fuel to give heat or make electricity. tree →
2) A coal is one burning or glowing piece of coal or wood in a fire. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science and geography, coal is a fossil fuel formed over millions of years from plants buried in swamps. Burning it releases carbon dioxide, which adds to climate change, so many countries use less coal now. In history, coal powered steam engines and factories; miners dug it from deep underground. Phrases: coal mine, coal miner, hot coals, a lump of coal, carry coals to Newcastle (bring something where there is already plenty), coal-fired power station.
examples
- Coal is a fossil fuel. tree →
- Steam trains burned coal. tree →
- The coal glowed red in the fireplace. tree →
- Coal formed from ancient plants. tree →
- Burning coal releases carbon dioxide. tree →
- Miners dug coal deep underground. tree →
- Santa leaves a lump of coal for naughty children, in the story. tree →
- ‘But what are we to do now?’ said the coal. tree →
note
Uncountable for the material (some coal), countable for burning pieces (hot coals). Coal, oil and natural gas are the three main fossil fuels; they are non-renewable — they will run out. Hot coals stay dangerous long after flames go out.
In the corpora
- For its size a Shetland pony is one of the strongest horses and once pulled carts in coal mines.
- Back home, a coal slips in the fire and the Rat wakes up.
- Since the 1800s Earth has warmed by about 1.3 degrees Celsius on average, mainly because people burn coal, oil and gas.
- Oil mattered little before the 1800s, when the main fuels were wood, charcoal and, later, coal.
- Coal, oil and natural gas are called fossil fuels because they are made from living things that died millions of years ago.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «coal» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.