CHAR

I.

variant of chare

II. noun

or charr ˈchär, -ȧ(r

( plural char or chars or charr or charrs )

Etymology: origin unknown

: a trout of the genus Salvelinus

III. verb

( charred ; charred ; charring ; chars )

Etymology: back-formation from charcoal

transitive verb

1. : to convert to charcoal or carbon usually by exposing to heat

heat chars wood and paper

2. : to burn partly, usually on the outside, with a blackened carbonized effect

the beams badly charred and unsafe

intransitive verb

: to burn to charcoal : burn

sugar chars at 400° C

Synonyms: see burn

IV. noun

( -s )

: a charred substance or charred remains : charcoal ; especially : animal or vegetable charcoal used in decolorizing the sugar in sugar manufacturing

V. ˈchär, -ȧ(r intransitive verb

( chared or charred ; chared or charred ; charing or charring ; chars )

Etymology: partly from chare, char (to do or complete), partly back-formation from charwoman

: to work as a charwoman or at the tasks often assigned to a charwoman

VI. ˈchär, -ȧ(r noun

( -s )

Etymology: short for charwoman

1. Britain : a woman who does domestic cleaning or the cleaning of public buildings or offices for a living, often by the day : charwoman

the domestic staff … reduced to an occasional char — Agnes M. Miall

2. : the work of routine housecleaning or the cleaning of public buildings or offices as a livelihood

char employees — U.S. Post Office Manual

VII. noun

( -s )

Etymology: Hindi c ā, from Chinese (Pekingese) ch'a 2

slang Britain : tea

VIII. abbreviation

1. character; characteristic

2. charity

3. charter