coal tar
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.57 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A black, viscous tar made by the destructive distillation of coal (to make coke and town gas); it contains a great number of compounds including hydrocarbons and phenols; used in the preparation of medicinal soap and shampoo, and industrially for the manufacture of many products.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "Lewis Kirk, the inventor of the steam hammer, and John Dodsworth, of Reading, Penn. have invented a new compound which they say "experience has proved to be a superior compound for preventing friction. The invention is the union, under a high degree of heat, of oil with asphaltum, or with coal tar, or with both together."
- "Phenol can be obtained from coal tars by two methods : (a) Directly by separation of the product contained in this type of feedstock, at the rate of 0.5 to 1.5 per cent weight."