: a usually brownish black coal intermediate between peat and bituminous coal
especially
: one in which the texture of the original wood is distinct
called also brown coal
Examples of lignite in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But Colstrip is among over 30 power plants nationwide that still burn lignite, a peat-rich coal that contains higher-than-average levels of mercury and other pollutants — and lignite plants were able to slip through a loophole in the Obama regulations.
—
Ella Nilsen, CNN Money, 18 Mar. 2026
Those earlier rules allowed power plants that burned a particularly dirty form of coal called lignite coal to emit more mercury than plants that burned other forms of the fossil fuel.
—Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2026
The Biden-era standards in question, which President Trump is rescinding, would have upped mercury controls by 70 percent for a subset of power plants that use a type of coal known as lignite.
—Rachel Frazin, The Hill, 20 Feb. 2026
There are lakes, orchards, enormous windmills and, far in the distance, the Schwarze Pumpe power station, an 800 megawatt electric power plant that burns lignite coal.
—Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2025
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Ella Nilsen, CNN Money, 18 Mar. 2026
Those earlier rules allowed power plants that burned a particularly dirty form of coal called lignite coal to emit more mercury than plants that burned other forms of the fossil fuel.
—Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2026
The Biden-era standards in question, which President Trump is rescinding, would have upped mercury controls by 70 percent for a subset of power plants that use a type of coal known as lignite.
—Rachel Frazin, The Hill, 20 Feb. 2026
There are lakes, orchards, enormous windmills and, far in the distance, the Schwarze Pumpe power station, an 800 megawatt electric power plant that burns lignite coal.
—Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lignite
Cite this Entry
“Lignite.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lignite. Accessed 8 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
lignite
noun
lig·nite
ˈlig-ˌnīt 
: a usually brownish black coal between peat and bituminous coal in age and heating ability
especially
: one in which the texture of the original wood is distinct
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