(transitive) to mix (air) with hydrocarbons, especially with petroleum, as in an internal combustion engine.
It can be a real challenge to get things to carburate right after something as simple as an exhaust pipe change.
A Dictionary of Automobile Terms by Albert L. Clough, 1913:One jet is constantly open and exposed to the suction of the incoming air and suffices to furnish the gasoline required properly to carburate the air entering at small and moderate gas demands.
