char.
To burn something to charcoal; to be burnt to charcoal.
Meaning & usage
To burn something to charcoal; to be burnt to charcoal.
I charred the wood.
The wood charred.
To burn (something) severely, so as to blacken it.
The fire charred her down to the bone.
To burn (something) slightly or superficially so as to affect colour.
The chef charred the scallops just right.
Where this word comes from
Back-formation from charcoal.
A charred substance.
Where this word comes from
Back-formation from charcoal.
Any of the several species of fishes of the genus Salvelinus.
Among other native delicacies, they give you fresh char.
Where this word comes from
Unknown, perhaps from Celtic, such as Irish ceara (“fiery red”) (found in personal names). Or, perhaps borrowed from Middle Low German schar (“flounder, dab”), from Old Saxon skard, from Proto-Germanic *skardaz, related to *skeraną (“to cut”), referring to its shape. If so, related to shard.
A time; a turn or occasion.
A turn of work; a labour or item of business.
An odd job, a chore or piece of housework.
A charlady, a woman employed to do housework; cleaning lady.
I had to scrub the kitchen today, because the char couldn't come.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English cherre (“odd job”), from Old English ċierr (“a turn, change, time, occasion, affair, business”), from ċierran (“to turn, change, turn oneself, go, come, proceed, turn back, return, regard, translate, persuade, convert, be converted, agree to, submit, make to submit, reduce”), from Proto-Germanic *karzijaną (“to turn”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gers- (“to bend, turn”). Cognate with Dutch keer (“a time, turn, occasion”), German Kehre (“a turn, bight, bend”) and kehren (“to sweep”) or umkehren (“to return or reverse”). More at chore, ajar.
To turn, especially away or aside.
To work, especially to do housework; to work by the day, without being a regularly hired servant.
To perform; to do; to finish.
To work or hew (stone, etc.)
Where this word comes from
From Middle English cherre (“odd job”), from Old English ċierr (“a turn, change, time, occasion, affair, business”), from ċierran (“to turn, change, turn oneself, go, come, proceed, turn back, return, regard, translate, persuade, convert, be converted, agree to, submit, make to submit, reduce”), from Proto-Germanic *karzijaną (“to turn”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gers- (“to bend, turn”). Cognate with Dutch keer (“a time, turn, occasion”), German Kehre (“a turn, bight, bend”) and kehren (“to sweep”) or umkehren (“to return or reverse”). More at chore, ajar.
A character (text element such as a letter or symbol).
A character (being involved in the action of a story).
Where this word comes from
Clipping of character. Used as the name of a data type in some programming languages, including notably C.
Alternative form of cha (“tea”).
Where this word comes from
Non-rhotic spelling of cha.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.