WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
meth•ane /ˈmɛθeɪn/USA pronunciation
n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Chemistrya colorless, odorless gas that can be burned, the main part of marsh gas.
meth•ane
(meth′ān; Brit. mē′thān),USA pronunciation n. [Chem.]
- Chemistrya colorless, odorless, flammable gas, CH4, the main constituent of marsh gas and the firedamp of coal mines, obtained commercially from natural gas: the first member of the methane, or alkane, series of hydrocarbons.
- meth- + -ane 1865–70
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'methane' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
coal gas
- derivative
- firedamp
- hydrogen cyanide
- liquefied natural gas
- marsh gas
- meth-
- methane series
- methanol
- natural gas
- nitromethane
- steam reforming
- will-o'-the-wisp
- alkane series
- aluminum carbide
- ane
- bioconversion
- biogas
- bromomethane
- carbon tetrachloride
- chlorobromomethane
- chlorofluoromethane
- chloromethane
- chlorotrifluoromethane
- decane
- diazomethane
- dichlorodifluoromethane
- dichloromethane
- diiodomethane
- dimethoxymethane
- dimethylmethane
- ethane
- flatus
- greenhouse effect
- greenhouse gas
- hydrocarbon
- methanal
- methanation
- methanogen
- methylene group
- methyl group
- nitroparaffin
- pentane
- perchloromethane
- phenylmethane
- primordial soup
- triarylmethane dye
- trichlorofluoromethane
- trichloromethane
- trifluorochloromethane