as in maids
a female domestic servant
a busy executive who leaves most of the cooking and cleaning to the char
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Recent Examples of chars
Miguel Otárola, Denver Post, 12 Aug. 2025
Verb
At American Elm, Mangin moves his cut of ribeye around the grill and flips it so each side faces the heat and chars the outside, guaranteeing a more even cook inside.
—Miguel Otárola, Denver Post, 12 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chars
Noun
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Doris and Ann, the family’s longtime upstairs-downstairs maids, were there too.—
Jennifer Cannon,
Vanity Fair,
7 Apr. 2026
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Roughly 82% of the Bay Area’s maids and housekeepers are immigrants, and close to 40% of the total are undocumented.—
Sara DiNatale,
San Francisco Chronicle,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Tucson will also be at or near record temperatures through March 27 as the state’s unprecedented heat wave scorches on, the weather service said.—
Ray Stern,
AZCentral.com,
25 Mar. 2026
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As the world around them scorches under record heat, a family walks into the woods, asking what the future holds in this thermal dystopia.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
14 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Roughly 30% of Gautam’s hotel staff in Florida are Haitians who are TPS holders, working as housekeepers, landscapers, supervisors and in other positions.—
Tami Luhby,
CNN Money,
28 Apr. 2026
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The housekeepers greet me with genuine care, the bartenders create cocktails with panache and smiles, and the doormen and women jauntily pose for pictures in their thick Batman-style winter cloaks.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But the laser singes her brain.—
Diana Arterian,
Literary Hub,
8 Oct. 2025
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At one point, Paul improvises a blowtorch and singes Carey’s face, leaving his peepers hairless.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Nikki Glaser quickly and delightfully sears the crowd.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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For some, a Day 3 NFL draft selection lights a competitive fuse, so to speak.—
Chris Perkins,
Sun Sentinel,
28 Apr. 2026
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Long evenings stretch out, iced drinks sweat in your hand, and porch lights flicker on just as the air begins to hum with those all-too-familiar pests.—
Jessica Safavimehr,
Southern Living,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Chars.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chars. Accessed 30 Apr. 2026.
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