Definition of "cannel" [cannel]

• A bituminous coal that burns brightly with much smoke. (noun)

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.

• "But that's no 'what I call cannel, "grumbled Davie, glowering fiercely at the burning coal, as if meditating a fresh attack."
• "If it is a shale truck there will be no coal in it, but there occurs among the shale another inflammable rock called cannel, which looks very like ordinary shale but is slightly darker and is known by splitting in parallel lines, like slate."
• "Coal gas is made, as you are all aware, by heating coal or cannel, which is the special form of coal most valued for the purpose, on account of the high quality of gas it produces in cylindrical fireclay retorts."