colliery

noun

col·​liery ˈkäl-yə-rē How to pronounce colliery (audio)
plural collieries
: a coal mine and its connected buildings

Examples of colliery in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web This year marks the 90th anniversary of the tragic event which saw 266 men die following an explosion in the colliery. Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 1 Mar. 2024 Following the 1966 Aberfan tragedy—in which the collapse of a colliery spoil tip buried an elementary school and killed over 100 people—Queen Elizabeth visited the South Wales village. Janaya Wecker, Town & Country, 15 Nov. 2022 Last year, nine miners plunged to deaths when a steel elevator cable broke at a colliery in a part of Donbas controlled by pro-Russia separatists. New York Times, 25 June 2022 Although Pegswood’s own colliery closed in 1968, mining remained the main source of local employment until the early 1990s. The Economist, 31 Mar. 2021 Local residents and miners from the Aberfan colliery led the early rescue operation, helping to pull casualties from the wreckage. Matthew Robinson, CNN, 22 Nov. 2019 Wales has many – and win it for Labour, the center-left party that grew out of the union movement that organized the miners in the collieries which defined and disfigured these valleys. Simon Montlake, The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Oct. 2019 But by the time the band formed in the mid-1980s the Valleys had endured decades of industrial decline, and Margaret Thatcher’s drive to shut down the remaining collieries precipitated unrest. Longreads, 25 June 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'colliery.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1635, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of colliery was in 1635

Dictionary Entries Near colliery

Cite this Entry

“Colliery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colliery. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

colliery

noun
col·​liery ˈkäl-yə-rē How to pronounce colliery (audio)
plural collieries
: a coal mine and the buildings connected with it
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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