Skip to content

kalburo

kalbúro with stress marks

carbide

noun kal-BU-ro Spanish origin Rare

Usage Note

Kalburo is borrowed from Spanish carburo and refers to calcium carbide, historically used in acetylene lamps that were common in the Philippines before widespread electrification. Today it is controversially used by some to artificially ripen fruits such as mangoes and bananas, a practice that is regulated but still discussed in public health contexts.

Examples

Beginner

" Delikado ang kalburo sa katawan. "

Natural Translation

Carbide is dangerous to the body.

Literal Translation

Dangerous the carbide to-the body.

Intermediate

" Ginamit nila ang kalburo para pabilisin ang paghinog ng mangga. "

Natural Translation

They used carbide to speed up the ripening of the mangoes.

Literal Translation

Used they the carbide to speed-up the ripening of-the mangoes.

Advanced

" Mas mainam bumili ng prutas na hinog nang natural kaysa sa prutas na pinabilis ang paghinog sa pamamagitan ng kalburo. "

Natural Translation

It is better to buy fruit that ripened naturally than fruit whose ripening was sped up using carbide.

Literal Translation

More better to-buy of fruit that ripe by natural than to fruit that sped-up the ripening through of carbide.

Free · iOS & Android

Take Tagalog with you

The full course, a 12,500-word dictionary, and flashcards that make every word stick — free to start on iOS and Android.

Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.

How Tagalog words work

Explore Tagalog by topic

Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.