Nearby Words
noun
1.
a black or dark-brown combustible mineral substance consisting of carbonized vegetable matter, used as a fuel. Compare anthracite, bituminous coal, lignite.
2.
a piece of glowing, charred, or burned wood or other combustible substance.
3.
charcoal (def. 1).
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Rake over the coals
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
verb (used without object)
Idioms6.
to take in coal for fuel.
7.
heap coals of fire on someone's head, to repay evil with good in order to make one's enemy repent.
8.
rake/haul/drag/call/take over the coals, to reprimand; scold: They were raked over the coals for turning out slipshod work.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To rake over the coals
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
coal
O.E. col "charcoal, live coal," from P.Gmc. *kula(n), from PIE base *g(e)u-lo- "live coal." Meaning "mineral consisting of fossilized carbon" is from 1253. First mentioned (370 B.C.E.) by Theophrastus in his treatise "On Stones" under the name lithos anthrakos (see
EXPAND anthrax). Traditionally good luck, coal was given as a New Year's gift in England, said to guarantee a warm hearth for the coming year. The phrase drag (or rake) over the coals was a reference to the treatment meted out to heretics by Christians. To carry coals to Newcastle (1606) Anglicizes Gk. glauk eis Athenas "owls to Athens."
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
coal  (kōl) Pronunciation Key
A dark-brown to black solid substance formed from the compaction and hardening of fossilized plant parts in the presence of water and in the absence of air. Carbonaceous material accounts for more than 50 percent of coal's weight and more than 70 percent of its volume. Coal is widely used as a fuel, and its combustion products are used as raw material for a variety of products including cement, asphalt, wallboard and plastics. See more at anthracite, bituminous coal, lignite. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
rake over the coals
Also, haul over the coals. Reprimand severely, as in When Dad finds out about the damage to the car, he's sure to rake Peter over the coals, or The coach hauled him over the coals for missing practice. These terms allude to the medieval torture of pulling a heretic over red-hot coals. [Early 1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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