char

Everyday

1. To burn something a little so the outside goes black. tree →
2. (UK, old-fashioned) A cleaning woman paid to clean houses or offices (short for charwoman). tree →
3. (UK, informal) Tea, as in «a cup of char». tree →
4. A kind of fish related to trout and salmon that lives in cold lakes and seas (the Arctic char). tree →

In the lessons

In cooking it describes grilled or barbecued food with black marks; in science and history it describes burnt wood or remains. In old British stories «the char» is the woman who cleans. Older British people may say «a nice cup of char». In nature lessons the Arctic char is a cold-water fish. It tells the reader about burning, or an old-fashioned British word.

Examples

• Char the peppers on the grill until the skins go black. tree →
• The forest fire charred hundreds of trees. tree →
• We found charred wood in the old fireplace. tree →
• Grandad asked for "a cup of char" with two sugars. tree →
• In the old story, the char scrubbed the floors every morning. tree →
• Arctic char live in very cold lakes. tree →
• The burnt toast was charred at the edges. tree →

Note

Verb doubles the r: charred, charring. «Char» for tea comes from the Chinese word «cha» (tea); it is British slang and a bit old-fashioned. Don't mix it up with «chart» or «chair».