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Coal vs Colon - What's the difference?

coal | colon |

As a noun coal

is (uncountable) a black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.

As a verb coal

is to take on a supply of coal (usually of steam ships).

As a proper noun colon is

.

coal

English

(wikipedia coal)

Noun

(en-noun)
  • (uncountable) A black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.
  • (countable) A piece of coal used for burning. Note that in British English either of the following examples could be used, whereas the latter would be more common in American English.
  • Put some coals on the fire.
    Put some coal on the fire.
  • (countable) A type of coal, such as bituminous, anthracite, or lignite, and grades and varieties thereof.
  • (countable) A glowing or charred piece of coal, wood, or other solid fuel.
  • Just as the camp-fire died down to just coals , with no flames to burn the marshmallows, someone dumped a whole load of wood on, so I gave up and went to bed.
  • Charcoal
  • Hyponyms

    * anthracite, bitumin

    Derived terms

    * bituminous coal, soft coal * brown coal * channel coal * coal ball * coal bed * coal black * coalboy * coal gas * coal hole * coal oil * coal tar * coal tit * coalmine, coal mine * coals to Newcastle * hard coal (see: anthracite) * white coal

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To take on a supply of coal (usually of steam ships).
  • * 1890 , (Oscar Wilde), The Picture of Dorian Gray , ch. XVI:
  • The light shook and splintered in the puddles. A red glare came from an outward-bound steamer that was coaling .
  • To be converted to charcoal.
  • * 1957 , H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry , p. 18:
  • As a result, particles of wood and twigs insufficiently coaled are frequently found at the bottom of such pits.
  • To burn to charcoal; to char.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • Charcoal of roots, coaled into great pieces.
  • To mark or delineate with charcoal.
  • (Camden)
  • To supply with coal.
  • to coal a steamer

    Anagrams

    *

    colon

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (grammar) The punctuation mark " ".
  • * 2005 , William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of Style , Penguin Press, page 15:
  • A colon tells the reader that what follows is closely related to the preceding clause.
  • (rare) The triangular colon (especially in context of not being able to type the actual triangular colon).
  • (rhetoric) A rhetorical figure consisting of a clause which is grammatically, but not logically, complete.
  • See also

    * * (punctuation)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (anatomy) Part of the large intestine; the final segment of the digestive system, after (distal to) the ileum and before (proximal to) the anus
  • Synonyms
    * (final segment of digestive system) large bowel
    Holonyms
    * (segment of digestive system) large intestine
    Derived terms
    * colectomy * colic * colitis * colonic * colonitis * colostomy * colonic irrigation

    See also

    * bowel * large intestine * rectum

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) colon.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A husbandman.
  • A European colonial settler, especially in a French colony.
  • * 1977 , (Alistair Horne), A Savage War of Peace , New York Review Books 2006, p. 28:
  • The reaction of the European colons , a mixture of shock and fear, was to demand further draconian measures and to suspend any suggestion of new reforms.

    Anagrams

    * ----