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# methane

«methane» in Mova's school dictionary: **a gas with no colour or smell that burns easily; it is…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (methane — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

Methane is a gas with no colour or smell that burns easily; it is the main part of natural gas used for cooking and heating. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/methane/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons methane is a greenhouse gas that traps heat; cows, rice fields, swamps and rubbish tips give it off. Its formula is CH4: one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. Phrases: «methane gas», «natural gas».

### examples

- Methane is the main part of natural gas. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/methane/#x1)
- Cows burp out methane. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/methane/#x2)
- Methane is a greenhouse gas. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/methane/#x3)
- Rotting rubbish in landfills makes methane. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/methane/#x4)
- The gas cooker burns methane. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/methane/#x5)
- A methane molecule has 1 carbon and 4 hydrogen atoms; how many atoms in all? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/methane/#x6)

### note

Uncountable. UK said MEE-thane, US METH-ane. Gas companies add a smell to natural gas so you can notice leaks — methane itself has none. Safety: if you smell gas, get out and call for help.

### In the corpora

- [Titan has rivers, lakes and seas, but they are filled with liquid methane and ethane, not water.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/space/13-saturns-moons/8/)
- [Rotting food in a landfill gives off methane, a gas that warms the planet.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/88-recycling-waste-plastic/2/)
- [Food rotting in a landfill gives off methane, a gas that warms the planet.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/88-recycling-waste-plastic/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «methane» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/methane/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.