Definition of "carbonize" [car•bon•ize]

• To reduce or convert a carbon-containing substance to carbon, as by partial burning. (verb-transitive)
• To coat or combine with carbon. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Though they were now only 65 air miles from their destination, the great salt lake lay more than 200 miles down the meandering river, through bands of belligerent nomads, wild rapids and a sun that threatened to "carbonize those who should be unprotected from its fierceness.""
• "Darken it too much and you can carbonize the surface and burn all the good stuff in the paste."
• "So, let's say we begin today to de-carbonize the global economy by increasing the price of carbon-based energy, reducing our demand for oil, developing alternative fuels and achieving energy efficiency through technological advances."