carbon

noun, often attributive

car·bon | \ ˈkär-bən

Definition of carbon

1 : a nonmetallic chemical element with atomic number 6 that readily forms compounds with many other elements and is a constituent of organic compounds in all known living tissues — see Chemical Elements Table

2 : a carbon rod used in an arc lamp

3a : a sheet of carbon paper

b : carbon copy

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Examples of carbon in a Sentence

a carbon of the document this new digital camera is a carbon of a well-known model costing almost twice as much

Recent Examples on the Web

His government legalized recreational cannabis and medically assisted dying, imposed a nationwide price on carbon and expanded parental benefits. — Washington Post, "Trudeau to launch Canada’s election season, faces challenging race," 11 Sep. 2019 The Amazon rainforest stores a huge amount of carbon in its vegetation and soil. — NBC News, "Why is the Amazon rainforest important?," 9 Sep. 2019 As a result of the explosion, the meteorite, which had an abundance of carbon inside, became heated. — Fox News, "Remnants of ancient planet just found in famous meteorite," 3 Sep. 2019 The Amazon’s plant life stores an estimated 100 billion tons of carbon. — Max Fisher, New York Times, "‘It’s Really Close’: How the Amazon Rainforest Could Self-Destruct," 30 Aug. 2019 Before the recent fires, the Amazon released up to 0.5 billion metric tons of carbon per year due to deforestation, according to the World Wildlife Fund. — Susan Scutti, CNN, "Here's what we know about the fires in the Amazon rainforest," 23 Aug. 2019 Environmentalists find these numbers concerning because the Amazon, the largest rainforest in the world, plays a crucial role in tempering the effects of global warming by absorbing large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. — Tiffany Diane Tso, refinery29.com, "The Amazon Rainforest Is Ablaze — Here’s How You Can Help," 23 Aug. 2019 Without trees, the Amazon loses its sequestering power and instead becomes a belcher of carbon. — Matt Simon, WIRED, "The Horrifying Science of the Deforestation Fueling Amazon Fires," 23 Aug. 2019 According to a 2011 study by the U.S. Forest Service, the world’s forests are responsible for absorbing 2.4 billion tons of carbon annually, which is about one-third of global fossil fuel emissions. — Maria Pasquini, PEOPLE.com, "Gisele Bündchen: ‘We Cannot Close Our Eyes’ to Devastating Destruction of Amazon Rainforest," 23 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'carbon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

14 Sep 2019

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Time Traveler for carbon

The first known use of carbon was in 1788

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More Definitions for carbon

carbon

noun

English Language Learners Definition of carbon

: a chemical element that forms diamonds and coal and that is found in petroleum and in all living plants and animals

See the full definition for carbon in the English Language Learners Dictionary

carbon

noun

car·bon | \ ˈkär-bən

Kids Definition of carbon

: a chemical element occurring as diamond and graphite, in coal and petroleum, and in plant and animal bodies

carbon

noun, often attributive

car·bon | \ ˈkär-bən

Medical Definition of carbon

: a nonmetallic element found native (as in diamonds and graphite) or as a constituent of coal, petroleum, asphalt, limestone, and organic compounds or obtained artificially (as in activated charcoal) —symbol C — see Chemical Elements Table