hydrocarbon

noun

hy·​dro·​car·​bon ˈhī-drō-ˌkär-bən 

: an organic compound (such as acetylene or butane) containing only carbon and hydrogen and often occurring in petroleum, natural gas, coal, and bitumens

Examples of hydrocarbon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Advertisement Climate decisions are hammered out not through electoral outcomes or parliamentary debates but in opaque bargains among party officials, security services, and hydrocarbon elites. —William Burke-White, Time, 20 Nov. 2025

Likewise, the pipelines became totemic of the dependence on cheap Russian hydrocarbons that critics felt Europe traded for a principled stance on Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine in 2014 and Georgia in 2008. —Joseph Ataman, CNN Money, 15 Nov. 2025

This process attaches an allyl group to the hydrocarbon, giving chemists a handle for later transformations. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 14 Nov. 2025

This exhaust system converts pollutants (hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides) into compounds that already make up our atmosphere (nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water). —Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 12 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing hydrocarbon

• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
• polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon

Rhymes for hydrocarbon

• fluorocarbon
• carbon

Kids Definition

hydrocarbon

noun

hy·​dro·​car·​bon ˌhī-drə-ˈkär-bən 

: a compound containing only carbon and hydrogen

Medical Definition

hydrocarbon

noun

hy·​dro·​car·​bon -ˈkär-bən 

: an organic compound (as acetylene, benzene, or butane) containing only carbon and hydrogen and often occurring in petroleum, natural gas, coal, and bitumens