To carbonate something means to add carbon dioxide gas to a liquid, creating those fizzy bubbles you see in soda, sparkling water, and champagne. When you open a carbonated drink and hear that satisfying psssst sound, that's the pressurized carbon dioxide escaping.

The process works by dissolving carbon dioxide into the liquid under pressure. When the pressure releases (like when you open a bottle), the gas forms bubbles and rises to the surface, creating that tickly, fizzy sensation on your tongue. Some drinks are naturally carbonated, like certain mineral waters that bubble up from underground springs already filled with dissolved carbon dioxide. Most sodas and sparkling waters, though, are artificially carbonated in factories.

You can also use carbonate as a noun in chemistry. A carbonate is a type of chemical compound containing carbon and oxygen. Calcium carbonate, for example, makes up seashells, limestone, and chalk. When you write on a chalkboard, you're using calcium carbonate. These carbonates have nothing to do with fizzy drinks: they're solid compounds that happen to share the same carbon-oxygen chemistry that makes carbonation possible in liquids.