coals

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of coal.

   She shoveled fresh coals into the furnace through the night.

   Hot coals from the campfire burned a hole in his tent.

   Note

   The plural belongs only to the countable uses of coal. It covers separate pieces of fuel, grades sold as a commodity (bituminous, anthracite and lignite are all coals), and the glowing remains of a fire, whether of coal, wood or other fuel. The rock itself is a mass noun, so a heap is normally a ton of coal, not of coals. Using the plural for individual lumps is less common in American English.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of coal.

   The freighter coals at Gibraltar before crossing the Atlantic.

   Every ship on this route coals here, then steams south within the day.

   Note

   A verb form spelled exactly like the plural noun, so only the sentence tells them apart: a ship coals, but a stoker shovels coals. Without an object it usually means taking on fuel, said of steamships and locomotives. With an object it means supplying fuel, charring something, or marking it with charcoal. Wood that coals, by contrast, is turning into charcoal itself.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2