View synonyms for methane

methane

[ meth-eyn; British mee-theyn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Chemistry.

a colorless, odorless, flammable gas, CH 4 , the main constituent of marsh gas and the firedamp of coal mines, obtained commercially from natural gas: the first member of the methane, or alkane, series of hydrocarbons.

methane

/ ˈmiːθeɪn /

a colourless odourless flammable gas, the simplest alkane and the main constituent of natural gas: used as a fuel. Formula: CH 4 See also marsh gas firedamp

methane

/ mĕth′ān′ /

A colorless, odorless, flammable gas that is the simplest hydrocarbon. It is the major constituent of natural gas and is released during the decomposition of plant or other organic compounds, as in marshes and coal mines. Methane is the first member of the alkane series. Chemical formula: CH 4 .

Origin of methane¹

First recorded in 1865–70; meth- + -ane

Origin of methane¹

C19: from meth ( yl ) + -ane

That can happen, according to the report, when (flammable) methane leaks out of fracking wells and into drinking water.

Methane could be produced by microbes on Mars, too, if they exist in enough numbers.

Methane is a familiar chemical, whether you know it by that name or not.

Perhaps the mysterious Martian methane, and its strange fluctuations, are part of that story.

And if the Martian methane is a real thing, it has some interesting implications.

All of them were fueled with liquid HNO3, which makes a pretty good fuel in an atmosphere that is predominantly methane.

The seas of Eisberg were liquid methane containing dissolved ammonia.

When the pumps in the air lock began pulling out the methane-laden atmosphere, they began to bulge slightly, but not excessively.

Methane is yielded by aluminium and beryllium carbides, and, mixed with hydrogen, by manganese carbide.

Those gases which contain less methane contain all the more hydrogen, viz.

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