coal-workingn.
/ˈkəʊlˌwəːkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈkoʊlˌwərkɪŋ/ 1. The working or mining of coal.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > [noun] > for coal
coal-working1708
colliery1708
coal mining1784
1708 J. C. Compl. Collier 41 in T. Nourse Mistery of Husbandry Discover'd (ed. 3) He ought to know Lineing, and Levelling well, as also the Method of Coal-Working.
1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 149/2 In the practical department of coal-working, geology can as yet render little aid.
1899 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 28 Apr. 508/1 Four thousand feet has generally been considered the ultimate limit in depth for all coal-working.
1938 Times 13 Jan. 14/1 Pending the developments of coal-working, coal supplies have been subsidized.
2008 Daily Post (Liverpool) (Nexis) 4 Aug. 4 Buyers are warned to take account of any hazards to stability which may arise from coal working on or near the site.
2. Usually in plural. A place where coal is worked; a coal mine (cf. coal work n. 1).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > coal-mine
pit1447
coal mine1475
coal work?1610
coalery1644
colliery1648
coalface1771
coal-working1774
1774 J. Stuart House of Lords 5 In 1731 and 1732 the said Water-course was..extended by Drifts, or Coal Workings, into the said Colliery.
1862 D. T. Ansted Short Trip Hungary & Transylvania 124 At last we reached the coal-workings, and a more deserted, melancholy-looking place for a mine I have never seen.
1920 A. H. Fay Gloss. Mining & Mineral Industry 419/1 Man-of-war,..a principal support in thick coal workings.
2004 Times Lit. Suppl. 10 Dec. 10/4 His painter's eye ensures that we see the splendour as well as the desolation of a landscape of abandoned coal-workings and subsiding clay pits.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1708