char
/tʃɑ:/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A type of fish: A small freshwater or marine fish of the genus Salvelinus, related to trout and salmon, often having spotted skin.
- A cleaning woman: (Chiefly British, informal) A woman employed to do household cleaning work, typically on a part-time or daily basis.
- Charred material: A substance that has been partially burned, especially wood that has been turned to charcoal.
Verb:
- To burn superficially: To burn the surface of something so that it changes color (often to black or brown) but is not completely destroyed.
- To reduce to charcoal: To burn or scorch something, especially organic material like wood, so that it becomes charcoal.
Examples of Usage
- Noun (Fish):
- The lake is famous for its Arctic char.
- We caught several char while fishing in the mountain stream.
- Noun (Cleaner):
- My grandmother worked as a char for several families in the neighborhood.
- They hired a char to come in twice a week.
- Noun (Substance):
- After the fire, all that remained was a pile of char.
- Verb (Burn superficially):
- The intense heat from the grill began to char the vegetables.
- The edges of the document were charred in the fire.
- Verb (Reduce to charcoal):
- The wildfire will char the entire forest if not contained.
- The process is designed to char the wood slowly to create high-quality charcoal.
Advanced Usage
- "To char one's fingers": To burn one's fingers slightly.
- Be careful not to char your fingers when lighting the campfire.
- In a technical/industrial context: The verb is used to describe a controlled burning or carbonization process.
- The manufacturer chars the bamboo at high temperatures to increase its durability.
Variants and Related Words
- Chare (noun/verb, archaic/variant): An alternative spelling for the noun/verb related to household work or a chore. (e.g., )
- Charwoman (noun): A woman employed to clean houses or offices. (This is a compound word using "char").
- Charr (noun): An alternative spelling for the fish.
- Charred (adjective): Describing something that has been burned on the surface.
- We served the steak slightly charred.
- Charing (present participle/gerund): The act of burning superficially.
- The charing of the wood released a smoky aroma.
Synonyms
- Verb (Burn): Scorch, sear, blacken, singe, carbonize.
- Noun (Cleaner): Cleaner, cleaning lady, daily help (chiefly British), maid.
- Noun (Fish): (Specific to the species, e.g., brook trout, lake trout are related but not perfect synonyms).
Related Phrasal Verbs/Phrases
- Char up (informal): To burn something, especially food, excessively.
- I managed to char up the toast completely.
- (To be) in char (obsolete/rare): An old form meaning to be engaged in household chores.
Related Idioms
- No specific common idioms center solely on the word "char." Its use in idioms is rare. The concept might appear descriptively, e.g., "charred beyond recognition."
Noun
- any of several small trout-like fish of the genus Salvelinus
- a human female employed to do housework
- the char will clean the carpet
- I have a woman who comes in four hours a day while I write
- a charred substance
Verb
- burn slightly and superficially so as to affect color
- The cook blackened the chicken breast
- The fire charred the ceiling above the mantelpiece
- the flames scorched the ceiling
- burn to charcoal
- Without a drenching rain, the forest fire will char everything