variants
or less commonly charr
plural char or chars also charr or charrs
: any of a genus (Salvelinus) of small-scaled trouts with light-colored spots
charred; charring
2
: to burn slightly or partly : scorch
the fire charred the beams
: to become charred
plural chars
1
2
: a darkened crust produced on grilled food
Because gas grills generally produce less heat than charcoal grills, the steak requires a longer cooking time (and less frequent flipping) to develop a nice char.—
David Pazmiño
David PazmiñoSynonyms
Examples of char in a Sentence
Verb (1)
I'd like my hamburger charred, but not cooked through
Noun (3)
a busy executive who leaves most of the cooking and cleaning to the char
Recent Examples on the WebDarren Incorvaia, New York Times, 6 June 2024
If using an oven, place cut sides up in a pan and broil until charred, about 2 minutes.
—Lynda Balslev, The Mercury News, 3 June 2024
The fire charred about 80 acres on the U.S. side of the border and 80 to 100 acres on the Mexico side, Cal Fire Capt. Brent Pascua said Sunday.
—Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 June 2024
The fire, which charred 3 acres along the 6400 block of Beech Avenue, was started by a mower and deemed accidental.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacramento Bee, 4 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for char 
Verb
In a paper published last month in the Journal of Mammalogy, the team described how Mr. Linley set up trail cameras at 28 wombat burrows in areas that had experienced varying degrees of wildfire charring, including some that hadn’t been burned at all.
—Darren Incorvaia, New York Times, 6 June 2024
If using an oven, place cut sides up in a pan and broil until charred, about 2 minutes.
—Lynda Balslev, The Mercury News, 3 June 2024
The fire charred about 80 acres on the U.S. side of the border and 80 to 100 acres on the Mexico side, Cal Fire Capt. Brent Pascua said Sunday.
—Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 June 2024
The fire, which charred 3 acres along the 6400 block of Beech Avenue, was started by a mower and deemed accidental.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacramento Bee, 4 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for char
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'char.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near char
Cite this Entry
“Char.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/char. Accessed 29 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
char
1 of 3 noun
plural char or chars
: any of a genus of trouts that have small scales and include the common brook trout
char
3 of 3 noun
: charcoal
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