coal gas

noun

1. a gas used for illuminating and heating, produced by distilling bituminous coal and consisting chiefly of hydrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide.
2. the gas formed by burning coal.

coal gas

noun

1. a mixture of gases produced by the distillation of bituminous coal and used for heating and lighting: consists mainly of hydrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide

Word History and Origins

Origin of coal gas¹

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

In the beginning, “natural” distinguished it from other gases, like coal gas, and signaled something that came straight out of the ground.

From Los Angeles Times

A similar decline in the suicide rate occurred decades earlier when natural gas replaced coal gas in kitchen ovens.

From Los Angeles Times

The round building with a cupola atop its conical roof was built in 1888 when coal gas was a major source of light and heat.

From Washington Times

In Britain, indoor gas poisoning was the most common method of suicide until the country changed the gas supply from high-carbon-monoxide coal gas to more harmless natural gas in the 1960s.

From Salon

Up until the 1960s, the ovens and stoves in many British homes used coal gas, which was rich in dangerous carbon monoxide and was implicated in many deaths, accidental or intentional.

From New York Times