carbon

Meanings

1. 1noununcountablechemistry

   A chemical element, symbol C, found in all living things and in substances such as coal, graphite and diamond.

   Grammar: Usually uncountable: carbon is found in all organic compounds.

   Patterns

   • carbon in something

   Diamond is a form of pure carbon.

   Plants take in carbon from the air and use it to build their tissues.

   The compound contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

2. 2noununcountableinformal

   Carbon dioxide or other carbon-containing gases released into the atmosphere, especially when considered as a cause of climate change.

   Grammar: Used in everyday talk about climate: cut carbon, low carbon.

   Patterns

   • reduce carbon
   • carbon emissions

   The company promised to cut its carbon by half within ten years.

   Planting trees helps absorb carbon.

   Flying has a high carbon cost compared with trains.

3. 3nouncountableold-fashioned

   A copy of a document made with carbon paper, or the paper itself.

   Grammar: Countable and rather old-fashioned: make a carbon.

   Patterns

   • a carbon of something

   The clerk kept a carbon of every letter she typed.

   Please send the original and keep the carbon.

   Carbons were common before photocopiers.

Word forms

Common combinations

carbon dioxide

Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

carbon footprint

We tried to shrink our carbon footprint by cycling to work.

carbon emissions

The law aims to cut carbon emissions from factories.

carbon dating

Carbon dating showed the bones were two thousand years old.

carbon neutral

The airline plans to become carbon neutral by 2040.

carbon monoxide

A detector warned of carbon monoxide leaking from the boiler.

Synonyms and how they differ

charcoal

Charcoal is a black fuel made mostly of carbon by burning wood, so it is a material rather than the element itself.

graphite

Graphite is one pure form of carbon, used in pencils, and carbon is the broader element.

soot

Soot is a black powder of unburned carbon left by smoke, not the element in general.

Word family

carbonate verb

to add carbon dioxide gas to a drink

carbonated adjective

fizzy because of dissolved gas

carbonic adjective

relating to or containing carbon

carboniferous adjective

producing coal; also the name of a geological period

carbonize verb

to turn into carbon by burning

Commonly confused: carbon or carbon vs. carbohydrate? carbon or carbine?

Practice

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