CH4; an odorless gas produced by the decomposition of organic matter; explosive when mixed with 7 or 8 volumes of air, constituting then the firedamp in coal mines. SYN: marsh gas.
* * *
meth·ane 'meth-.ān, Brit usu 'mē-.thān n a colorless odorless flammable gaseous saturated hydrocarbon CH4 that is lighter than air and forms explosive mixtures with air or oxygen, that is a product of decomposition of organic matter in marshes and mines or of the carbonization of coal, and that is used as a fuel and raw material in chemical synthesis called also marsh gas
* * *
meth·ane (methґān) a colorless, odorless, flammable gas, CH4, produced by decomposition of organic matter, which may explode when mixed with air or oxygen; it is the first member of a homologous series of saturated hydrocarbons including butane, ethane, hexane, pentane, and propane.
Methane.
Medical dictionary. 2011.