char·coal
ˈchär-ˌkōl 
1
: a dark or black porous carbon prepared from vegetable or animal substances (as from wood by charring in a kiln from which air is excluded)
2
a
: a piece or pencil of fine charcoal used in drawing
b
: a charcoal drawing
3
: a dark gray
Examples of charcoal in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Edna Bonhomme, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
To amplify the glow, bamboo, charcoal, sea salt, pearl powder, and tourmaline work in harmony, leaving skin clarified, refreshed, and radiant without ever feeling stripped.
—Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 30 Sep. 2025
Stephen Maher, Time, 2 July 2025
Ocean Motion: India food critic, journalist, TV personality and talk show host, Vir Sangi accompanies Rosenthal to Trishna, a superb seafood restaurant, for fish curry, charcoaled jumbo prawns, lobster in chili sauce and butter-garlic crab.
—Laura Manske, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
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Noun
The charcoal drawing Anoma Kole Kole, 2023–24, for instance, skillfully weaves a blueprint of colonial infrastructure with images of the Africans who built transit systems.
—Edna Bonhomme, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
To amplify the glow, bamboo, charcoal, sea salt, pearl powder, and tourmaline work in harmony, leaving skin clarified, refreshed, and radiant without ever feeling stripped.
—Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 30 Sep. 2025
Verb
Advertisement The result is a terrible new normal, with immense out-of-control wildfires now regularly turning massive swaths of the boreal belt around the top of the world to charcoal.
—Stephen Maher, Time, 2 July 2025
Ocean Motion: India food critic, journalist, TV personality and talk show host, Vir Sangi accompanies Rosenthal to Trishna, a superb seafood restaurant, for fish curry, charcoaled jumbo prawns, lobster in chili sauce and butter-garlic crab.
—Laura Manske, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for charcoal
Cite this Entry
“Charcoal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charcoal. Accessed 4 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
charcoal
noun
char·coal
ˈchär-ˌkōl
: a dark or black porous carbon prepared from vegetable or animal substances (as from wood by charring in a kiln from which air is excluded) see activated charcoal
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