brattice
/ˈbratɪs
/noun
A partition or shaft lining in a coal mine, typically made of wood or heavy cloth.It was past seven o'clock now and the first purple brattices of night were draping the eastern horizon....
- The shaft at Moorfield had the brattice removed and was fitted out with two double-decked cages.
- It was the practice to fill in the spaces between the brattices and the wax walls with slack.
Derivatives
bratticed
- The auxiliary winder is a ground-mounted, single drum winder with a double-deck, six-man cage on fixed guides in a bratticed compartment in the shaft.
- The shaft is divided or bratticed into two compartments, in the other one of which the pumps and their apparatus are placed.
- Nine men had survived the blast, had bratticed themselves into a side tunnel.
Origin
Middle English (denoting a temporary wooden gallery for use in a siege): from Old French bretesche, from medieval Latin britisca, from Old English brittisc 'British'. The current sense dates from the mid 19th century.