Methane

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Methane \Meth"ane\, n. [See {Methal}.] (Chem.)
     A light, colorless, gaseous, inflammable hydrocarbon, {CH4};
     marsh gas. It is the simplest of the aliphatic hydrocarbons.
     See {Marsh gas}, under {Gas}.
     [1913 Webster]
  


     {Methane series} (Chem.), a series of saturated hydrocarbons,
        of which methane is the first member and type, and
        (because of their general chemical inertness and
        indifference) called also the {paraffin (little affinity)
        series}. The lightest members are gases, as methane,
        ethane; intermediate members are liquids, as hexane,
        heptane, etc. (found in benzine, kerosene, etc.); while
        the highest members are white, waxy, or fatty solids, as
        paraffin proper.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  methanogen \methanogen\ n.
     A type of archaebacteria found in anaerobic environments such
     as animal intestinal tracts or sediments or sewage, and
     capable of producing {methane}; a source of natural gas.
     [WordNet 1.5]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  methane
       n : a colorless odorless gas used as a fuel

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  41 Moby Thesaurus words for "methane":
     alcohol, benzine, briquette, burnable, butane, carbon, charcoal,
     coal, coke, combustible, dope, ethane, ethanol, fireball, firing,
     flammable, flammable material, fuel, fuel additive, fuel dope, gas,
     gas carbon, gasoline, heptane, hexane, inflammable,
     inflammable material, isooctane, jet fuel, kerosene, methanol,
     natural gas, octane, oil, paraffin, peat, pentane, propane,
     propellant, rocket fuel, turf