carbon dating

noun

: the determination of the age of old material (such as an archaeological or paleontological specimen) by means of the content of carbon 14

carbon-date

ˈkär-bən-ˈdāt 

transitive verb

Examples of carbon dating in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Midpen donated the ancient chomper to Stanford‘s Doerr School of Sustainability, where researchers will use carbon dating to determine its exact age. — Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026

The mastodon tooth was donated to the Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University, where researchers plan to determine its exact age through carbon dating and will create a 3D scan of it, the press release said. — Megan Fahrney, ABC News, 10 Sep. 2026

Reher-Langberg hopes future carbon dating and pollen analysis might answer some lingering questions, for instance about what kind of textile production went on at the site. — James Brooks, Fortune, 24 June 2026

That place of the carbon dating machine, that was in Padua. — Todd Gilchrist, IndieWire, 24 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1951, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for carbon dating

• abdicating
• abrogating
• activating
• actuating
• advocating
• aggravating
• aggregating
• agitating
• allocating
• alternating
• animating
• annotating

Kids Definition

carbon dating

noun

: the measurement of age (as of a fossil) by means of the amount of carbon 14 in the material