carbon footprint

noun

: the amount of greenhouse gases and specifically carbon dioxide emitted by something (such as a person's activities or a product's manufacture and transport) during a given period

Examples of carbon footprint in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

At the same time, the new HEFA pathway offers airlines and fuel producers an additional tool to reduce their carbon footprint. —Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 4 Sep. 2025

The company’s process is engineered to minimize energy waste and emissions, reducing the carbon footprint of industrial manufacturing. —Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2025

Energy efficient models will not only keep costs down, but minimize your carbon footprint. —Megan Poinski, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2025

Widespread public concerns about the enormous energy and carbon footprint of AI, and scary-sounding projections by power companies about how much new electricity infrastructure will be needed to serve it, are often based on dubious data or overly simplistic extrapolations. —Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 21 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1999, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for carbon footprint

• blueprint
• imprint
• misprint
• newsprint
• nonprint
• preprint
• reprint
• clint
• dint
• glint
• hint
• lint

Kids Definition

carbon footprint

noun

: the amount of greenhouse gases and especially carbon dioxide given off by something (as a person's activities or a product's manufacture and transport) during a given period