char Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a charred substance
  2. noun a human female employed to do housework
    cleaning woman; woman; charwoman; cleaning lady.
    • the char will clean the carpet
    • I have a woman who comes in four hours a day while I write
  3. noun any of several small trout-like fish of the genus Salvelinus
    charr.
  4. verb burn to charcoal
    coal.
    • Without a drenching rain, the forest fire will char everything
  5. verb burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color
    sear; blacken; scorch.
    • The cook blackened the chicken breast
    • The fire charred the ceiling above the mantelpiece
    • the flames scorched the ceiling

WordNet

Char, Charr noun (Also<
  • Char
  • Charr
)
Etymology
Ir. cear, Gael. ceara, lit., red, blood-colored, fr. cear blood. So named from its red belly.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) One of the several species of fishes of the genus Salvelinus, allied to the spotted trout and salmon, inhabiting deep lakes in mountainous regions in Europe. In the United States, the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is sometimes called a char.
Char noun
Etymology
F.
Definitions
  1. A car; a chariot. Obs. Chaucer.
Char noun
Etymology
OE. cherr, char a turning, time, work, AS. cerr, cyrr, turn, occasion, business, fr. cerran, cyrran, to turn; akin to OS. kërian, OHG. chëran, G. kehren. Cf. Chore, Ajar.
Definitions
  1. Work done by the day; a single job, or task; a chore. Written also chare. Eng.
    When thou hast done this chare, I give thee leave To play till doomsday. Shak.
Char, Chare transitive verb (Also<
  • Char
  • Chare
)
Etymology
See 3d Char.
Definitions
  1. To perform; to do; to finish. Obs. Nores.
    Thet char is chared, as the good wife said when she had hanged her husband. Old Proverb.
  2. To work or hew, as stone. Oxf. Gloss.
Char, Chare intransitive verb (Also<
  • Char
  • Chare
)
Definitions
  1. To work by the day, without being a regularly hired servant; to do small jobs.
Char transitive verb
Etymology
Prob. the same word as char to perform (see Char, n.), the modern use coming from charcoal, prop. coal-turned, turned to coal.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Charred ; present participle & verbal noun Charring
Definitions
  1. To reduce to coal or carbon by exposure to heat; to reduce to charcoal; to burn to a cinder.
  2. To burn slightly or partially; as, to char wood.

Webster 1913