coalfield

noun

coal·​field ˈkōl-ˌfēld How to pronounce coalfield (audio)
: a region rich in coal deposits

Examples of coalfield in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Roughly one in five miners in the Central Appalachia coalfields of West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia now have black lung disease, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Kris Maher, WSJ, 7 Sep. 2023 Blasting occurs at the Jharia coalfield in Dhanbad, in the state of Jharkhand, a common technique that uses explosives to break up the ground. Time, 12 Jan. 2023 Bobby was born in the coalfields of eastern Kentucky on December 7, 1931. Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 28 June 2023 To earn a living, many local residents collect and sell coal from the Jharia coalfield in Dhanbad. Time, 12 Jan. 2023 Due to its geological features, the Geiseltal area — once a coalfield — contains thousands of fossils and can give researchers a better idea of what life looked like millions of years ago. Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 6 July 2022 The energy firm that owns the coalfield, DTEK Corp., also cited wartime restrictions on publishing details on strategic infrastructure. Dalton Bennett, Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2022 But below the surface of this sprawling Donbas coalfield, a dwindling number of miners are still working, extracting a fuel that is emblematic of one of Ukraine’s biggest challenges. Dalton Bennett, Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2022 The Selby coalfield, also in the area, once employed three thousand five hundred people; today, Drax employs about seven hundred. Sarah Miller, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2021 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'coalfield.' 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

1734, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of coalfield was in 1734

Dictionary Entries Near coalfield

Cite this Entry

“Coalfield.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coalfield. Accessed 2 Dec. 2023.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!