This page gathers the 508 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Mining”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples. Page 2 of 5: from “craunch” to “groove”.
- craunch noun A portion of a stratum or vein left in excavating to support the roof.
- crop noun Tin ore prepared for smelting.
- cropping noun An outcrop that is mined for the ore it contains.
- cross-course noun A vein or lode that crosses the main lode, sometimes accompanied by a change of course in the main lode.
- crosscut noun A tunnel or level driven across the course of a vein, or across the main workings, as from one gangway to another through the country rock.
- crossheading noun A narrow opening for ventilation driven through coal or rock, separating the two passages.
- crut noun A cross-measure tunnel or drift.
- cuddy noun A pony that works in a mine.
- damp noun A gaseous product, formed in coal mines, old wells, pits, etc.
- dan noun A small truck or sledge used in coal mines.
- daze noun A glittering stone.
- dead end noun The inner end of a drift or tunnel.
- dead ground noun the portion of a vein in which there is no ore
- depletion noun gradual expense or use of natural resources over time.
- depressant noun An agent that inhibits the flotation of a mineral or minerals.
- deputy noun A person employed to install and remove props, brattices, etc. and to clear gas, for the safety of the miners.
- dialer noun A mining surveyor.
- dig verb To take ore from its bed, in distinction from making excavations in search of ore.
- dilving noun The shaking of tin ore in a sieve held underwater so that the waste flows out, leaving the tin behind.
- dirt noun In placer mining, earth, gravel, etc., before washing.
- dish noun A trough in which ore is measured.
- district noun A specific, usually named area of the coalface where particular seams are worked.
- doggy noun Synonym of corporal.
- doghole verb To work in a doghole mine, especially to manually dig up a vein.
- dook noun A heading or roadway following the dip of the strata.
- doust verb To separate dust from ore.
- dousting noun A process for separating the dust from ore.
- downcast noun A ventilating shaft down which air passes in circulating through a mine.
- dram noun A cart formerly used to haul coal in coal mines.
- draw verb To raise (coal or ore) from an underground mine to the surface.
- drawer noun A wagoner or person who pushes underground tubs.
- dresser noun A kind of pick for shaping large coal.
- drift verb To make a drift; to examine a vein or ledge for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of metals or ores; to follow a vein; to prospect.
- drifter noun A person employed in driving in rock other than coal.
- driftway noun A drift, or horizontal passage in a mine.
- drive verb To dig horizontally; to cut a horizontal gallery or tunnel.
- drive unit noun A mechanical system that provides the reciprocating motion for shaker conveyors, which transport ore or coal along underground trough lines.
- dropper noun A branch vein which drops off from, or leaves, the main lode.
- dry blower noun A machine that uses an air blower to blow away light fines to concentrate heavy fines and larger bits, from pay dirt. This concentrate can…
- dry bone noun smithsonite
- dump noun A pile of ore or rock.
- dyke noun A fissure in a rock stratum filled with intrusive rock; a fault.
- earthscraper noun Synonym of bellyscraper (“a piece of heavy equipment”).
- elvan adj Of or relating to certain veins of feldspathic or porphyritic rock crossing metalliferous veins in the mining districts of Cornwall.
- eye noun Synonym of pit-eye.
- face noun The exposed surface of the mineral deposit where it is being mined. Also the exposed end surface of a tunnel where digging may still be in…
- facework noun Work done at the face, such as the coalface.
- fang noun A channel cut or pipe set for the purpose of carrying fresh air to working miners.
- farmer noun The lord of the field, or one who farms the lot and cope of the crown.
- fault noun An intrusion of another material, such as dirt or slate, within a coal seam.
- feeder noun Synonym of blower (“fissure from which firedamp issues”).
- fell noun The finer portions of ore, which go through the meshes when the ore is sorted by sifting.
- fettler noun An ostler; one who looks after the horses in a mine.
- fire verb To set off an explosive in a mine.
- fire damper noun A mine worker who detects and clears a mineshaft of firedamp by intentionally burning or blowing it up.
- fireman noun A safety inspector in coal mines.
- firesetting noun The use of fire to soften or crack the working face of a lode, to facilitate excavation; later superseded by the use of explosives.
- flashdamp noun A mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen that is found in mines, and ignited quickly within a safety lamp, but that is then…
- flat noun A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.
- flint mill noun An obsolete appliance for lighting a miner at his work, in which flints on a revolving wheel were made to produce a shower of sparks, which…
- floor noun A horizontal, flat ore body; the rock underlying a stratified or nearly horizontal deposit.
- floran noun tin ore scarcely perceptible in the stone
- flotation noun A process of separating minerals by agitating a mixture with water and detergents etc; selected substances being carried to the surface in…
- flush verb To operate a placer mine, where the continuous supply of water is insufficient, by holding back the water, and releasing it periodically in…
- foal noun A young boy who assisted the headsman by pushing or pulling the tub.
- foothole noun A hole into which the foot can be wedged to aid in climbing; a foothold.
- footwall noun The under wall of an enclosed vein.
- forebreast noun forefield
- forefield noun The face of a mine working.
- fork noun The bottom of a sump into which the water of a mine drains.
- frame verb To wash ore with the aid of a frame.
- fret noun The worn sides of riverbanks, where ores or stones containing them accumulate after being washed down from higher ground, which thus…
- fuse verb Alternative spelling of fuze, to equip with a detonator.
- fuze noun Synonym of detonator, an auxiliary device used to ignite an explosive substance or device.
- gad noun A pointed metal tool for breaking or chiselling rock; a pick.
- gadder noun A drilling or perforating machine or apparatus for mining and mineral exploration.
- galamander noun A customized horse- or ox-drawn stoneboat or wagon once used for hauling stone from quarries, with smaller front wheels and larger rear…
- gallery noun A level or drive in a mine.
- garland noun A metal gutter placed round a mineshaft on the inside, to catch water running down inside the shaft and run it into a drainpipe.
- gate noun A tunnel serving the coal face.
- geoengineering noun The subfield of engineering concerned with designing and constructing tunnels, mines, and other human-designed geologic structures within…
- Geordie noun A Geordie lamp.
- getter noun A miner who dug coal, contrasted with the putter, who took it to the surface.
- gin noun A hoisting drum, usually vertical; a whim.
- girdle noun A thin bed or stratum of stone.
- glebe noun A piece of earth containing ore.
- glomerule noun A globule of metal.
- glory hole noun A hole in a mineshaft where an orebody is mined upwards until it breaks through the surface into the open air.
- gloryhole verb To mine using a glory hole.
- glut noun A piece of wood used to fill up behind cribbing or tubbing.
- goaf noun That part of a mine from which the mineral has been partially or wholly removed.
- gob verb To pack away waste material in order to support the walls of the mine.
- gob up verb To pack or fill with waste material.
- gobbing noun The refuse thrown back into the excavation after removing the coal; gob stuff.
- gobline noun The outer extent of the gob (waste material) in an old mine.
- goff noun Synonym of bump (“sudden movement of underground strata”).
- gouge noun Soft material lying between the wall of a vein and the solid vein of ore.
- grass noun The surface of a mine.
- grizzly noun A grating used to sieve stones by size, so as to keep stones out of the sluices (in hydraulic mining) or to control stone size in the feed…
- groove noun A shaft or excavation.