▪ I. coal, n.
(kəʊl)
Forms: 1–5 col, 2–8 cole, 4 kole, 4–6 coole, (5–6 Sc. coyll(e, coil(l, colle), 6–7 coale, 6– coal.
[OE. col neut. corresp. to OHG. chol n., cholo m. (MHG. kol m., n., kole m. sometimes fem., mod.Ger. kohle fem.), MDu. cole, (Du. kool) f., MLG. kole, kale f., (LG. kale), OFris. kole, coele, (WFris. koal, Satl. kôle, Wang. kulle, EFris. kole, kȫl(e, kâl(e); ON. kol neut., (Norw. Sw. kol, Dan. kul).
Fick compares Skr. jvar, jval, to glow, jurni glow, corresp. to Aryan root *gwer-(l), gwor-(l), gur-(l); whence guˈro, guˈlo, would be represented by OTeut. *koˈla.]
I. 1. a. A piece of carbon glowing without flame. (Now arch. or blending with 4, 5.)
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxix. 4 Strelas mæhtᵹe scearpe mid colum tolesendes. c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. vii. 49 Ðurh ða colu ðæs alteres. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6762 Þair hertes sal bryn with-in als a cole. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxi. 142 A maner of tree..þat, if a man brynne it and couer þe coles þeroff with aschez, þai will hald in quikk a twelfmonth [Cf. Chaucer Parson's T. ¶477]. c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 23 Loue is hetter þan þe cole. 1481 Caxton Reynard xxx. (Arb.) 78 They retche not whos[e] hows brenneth, so that they may warme them by the coles. 1534 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) H ij, The coles can not be in the embres withoute sparkes. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Tracts 58 The coals of Juniper raked up will keep a glowing Fire for the space of a year. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 160 ¶4 A Piece of Flesh broiled on the Coals. 1842 Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 166 On the coals I lay, A vessel full of sin: all hell beneath Made me boil over. a 1864 Hawthorne Mother Rigby's Pipe i, A coal for my pipe! |
b. In this sense often defined by some addition,
coals of fire,
burning coal,
hot coal,
live coal,
quick coal(s. Hence in later times liable to be understood in senses 4, 5.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxxxix. 11 Fallað ofer hie colu fyres. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 124 Wiþ deawwyrme, stæppe on hat col, cele mid wætre. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xvii. 14 Haghil & coles of fire. 1340 Ayenb. 205 A quic col berninde ope ane hyeape of dyade coles. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 86 Cole of fyre, brynnynge, pruna. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 135 Compelled to walke vpon y⊇ hote coles. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. vi. 110 It is like a coale of fire, sometimes plew, and sometimes red. 1611 Bible Isa. vi. 6 One of the Seraphims..hauing a liue-cole [1382 Wyclif a cole; Coverd. hote cole] in his hand. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. ix. 146 The fire-wood was burnt..into embers, or live coals. 1866 Kingsley Herew. xviii. 229 One man can put the live coal in a right place. |
† c. The glowing portion of a match.
Obs.| 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 18 If the touch powder bee not drie it taketh no fire, how good soever the cole of the match be. Ibid. 21 b, If the same matches..have received outwardlie anie wett or moisture, then the coalss doo burne inward, leaving a beard outward. |
† 2. a. A piece of burnt wood, etc., that still retains sufficient carbon to be capable of further combustion without flame; a charred remnant; a cinder.
Sometimes defined as
dead,
cold,
black,
quenched coal.
Cf. black as a coal in 10.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xvii. 9 Colu onelde sind from h[i]m. c 1000 ælfric Hom. ii. 496 (Bosw.) Ða tweᵹen drymen wurdon awende to cola ᵹelicnyssum. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xvii. 9 Koles þat ware doun-falland Kindled ere of him glouand. c 1340 Cursor M. 11862 (Trin.) Heroude..he sleeþ his leches deed as cole. 1413 Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle ii. lviii. (1859) 56 Thenne woldest thou nought haue despysed me as ashes, but parauenture called me blacke forbrent coles. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 87 Cole qwenchyd, carbo. 1570 Levins Manip. 160/28 A cole cold, carbo. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. v. i. 68 Starres, Starres, And all eyes else, dead coales. |
† b. This passed into the sense of ‘cinder, ashes’, as the result or residue of combustion.
Cf. cinder.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 27 Ane berninde glede þet hine al forbernað þurut to cole. c 1350 Will. Palerne 4367 To cold coles sche schal be brent. c 1403 Mandeville ix. (1839) 101 He schall fynde with in hem [apples of Sodom] coles and cyndres [Roxb. text xii. 51 aschez and poudre and coles; Fr. cendres]. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 342 Sex fyngre thicke a floore therof thou pave With lyme and asshes mixt with cole and sandes. 1530 Palsgr. 208/2 Coles suche as be gyven in tenebre weke, afferendons. 1607 Shakes. Cor. iv. vi. 137 If he could burne vs all into one coale, We haue deseru'd it. 1665 G. Havers Sir T. Roe's Voy. E. Ind. 342 They set her on fire to make her a Coal, rather than we should make her a Prize. |
3. fig. from 1 and 2.
| 1577 Harrison England ii. ix. (1877) i. 206 They onelie kindle coales of contention. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 387 Affection is a coale that must be coold. 1595 ― John v. ii. 83 Your breath first kindled the dead coale of warres. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Employment ii, Man is no starre, but a quick coal of mortall fire. 1684 Baxter Par. Congreg. 26 So do the Sons of the Coal, the superconformists more fiercely revile me. |
† 4. a. Fuel prepared from wood by a process of smothered combustion or ‘dry distillation’, whereby the volatile constituents are driven off, and the substance reduced to more or less pure carbon;
charcoal. Used in
pl., or as a
collective sing. Obs.| c 1205 Lay. 2366 Makian an eorð-hus And dude þer-inne muche col & claðes inowe. c 1300 Seyn Julian 162 in Juliana, He let make of wode and col a strong fur and good. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2520 Choliers þat cayreden col come þere bi-side. a 1400 Isumbras 427 Appone a horse that coles broghte. 1563 T. Gale Wks. Chirurg. (1586) 66 The vsuall gun pouder..made of Sulphure, Saltpeeter and Coale. 1584 R. Scot Discov. Witchcr. xiv. i. 295 Fiers..of cole, composed speciallie of beech. 1628 Coke On Litt. 53 b, Turning of trees to coles for fuell, when there is sufficient dead wood, is waste. 1653 Walton Angler ii. 58 Let him [a Chub] then be boiled gently over a Chafing-dish with wood coles. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xii. 209, I contrived to burn some wood..till it became chark, or dry coal. 1799 G. Smith Labor. I. 8 That the coals be of lime tree. 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Coal, the English generally use the plural coals; and we as generally use the singular collectively. Coals with us may mean charcoal, in England, never. |
† b. sing. A piece of charcoal.
Obs.| 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 607 This false chanoun..Out of his bosom took a bechen cole. |
† c. Charcoal used for writing or drawing; hence a charcoal pencil. Also
attrib.| c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. v. 166 Write sum..carect with cole or chalk in the wal. 1590 Davidson Reply Bancroft in Wodr. Soc. Misc. 508 It hath pleased his Majestie..to note it with a coal..in the margent of Bancroft's book. 1674 Grew Anat. Plants iii. ii. vii. §3 It maketh an excellent Coal for Painters scribets. 1817 J. Scott Paris Revisit. 217 Delineated on the wall..in coal outline. 1835 Carlyle Let. in Life in London I. 40 All these coal-marks of yours shall be duly considered. |
5. A mineral, solid, hard, opaque, black, or blackish, found in seams or strata in the earth, and largely used as fuel; it consists of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in former epochs of the world's history.
According to the degree of carbonization, coal is divided into three principal kinds,
anthracite or
glance coal,
black or
bituminous coal, and
brown coal or
lignite, in each of which again various qualities are distinguished.
a. with qualification (to distinguish it from
prec. sense): as
digged coal,
earth coal,
pit coal,
sea coal,
stone coal, etc.
| [c 1236 Newminster Chartul. (Surtees) 55 Et ad carbonem maris capiendum, etc.] 1253 Charter Hen. III, in Archæol. æliana (1880) VIII. 172 note, Secole lan' extra Neugat' in suburbio London. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. ii. xxvi. 139, 52 chaldernes of see colys. 1538 Leland Itin. V. 102 Though betwixt Cawoode and Rotheram be good Plenti of Wood, yet the People burne much Yerth Cole. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 25 (Digged Cole) They digge out of the mountaynes a certayne kinde of blacke stone whiche burne in the fyre like coles. 1559 Morwyng Evonym. 64 Such coales as are digged out of the ground are condemned bicause of their foule smell. 1578 Petition Brewers Co. to Q. Eliz. in Nature XXVI. 569 Hersealfe greatley greved and anoyed with the taste and smoke of the sea cooles. 1616 in Entick London II. 47 Coals, called stone-coals, pit-coals, earth-coals. 1631 E. Jorden Nat. Bathes x. (1669) 71 Many have propounded the melting of it [iron] with stone-coal, but perhaps they have failed in their projects. c 1682 in Nature XXVI. 620 A new way of makeing pitch and tarre out of pit coale. 1720 Lond. Gaz. No. 5856/3 Smelting down Lead with Pit-Coal and Sea-Coal. 1807 Southey Espriella's Lett. I. 12 They burn earth-coal everywhere. |
b. without qualification. (This is now the ordinary sense.) Used as
collective sing., and in
pl.; the latter now less usual, and said only of coal in pieces for burning. In
dial. use, in the
sing. a coal = ‘a piece of coal’, ‘he threw a large coal at him’.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 399 (Mätzn.) Col groweþ vnder lond. 1398 ― Barth. De P.R. x. iv. (1495) 376 Cole is fyre in erthly substaunce and trowbly and boystous matere. 1628 Coke On Litt. 53 b, Mines of metall, coale, or the like. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 122 It imports Newcastle coal. 1813 Sir H. Davy Agric. Chem. (1814) 341 The liquor produced by the distillation of coal. 1862 Ruskin Munera P. (1880) 34 The question of equivalence..how much coal in return for so much iron. 1876 Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. xiv. 250 Valuable beds of coal. |
| 1547 Newminster Cartul. (Surtees) 311 A Myne of Colles. 1563 Sc. Acts Q. Mary (1597) c. 84 That na coales be had furth of the Realme. 1605 Camden Rem. 1 Rich in minerall of coles, tinne, lead. 1667 Primatt City & C. Build. 26 There doth yet remain great quantities of Coles in the Earth. a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. (1690) 99 Coals..were heretofore seldom used in Chambers, as now they are. 1785 Franklin Wks. (1840) VI. 525 The inhabitants of London have had no general pestilential disorder since the general use of coals. 1833 Edin. Rev. LVII. 79 The increased revenue from the transport of coals is very remarkable. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 95 When about half the heap of coals had been removed. |
c. with defining attribute indicating the quality, place whence obtained, or any other characteristic. See in their alphabetical places brown coal, cannel c., cherry c., parrot c., etc.
| 1641 French Distill. v. (1651) 156 Take three parts of the best New-castle coals. 1673 A. Walker Lees Lachrymans 25 A rude Pencil would have painted it with stagnant colours, or a Scotch coal. 1777 Sheridan Trip Scarb. iii. iii, Get a Scotch coal fire in the parlour. 1805 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. II. 468 The fire or seeing coal (so called from the light it gives). 1853 Anderson in Pharmac. Jrnl. XIII. 122 Bituminous coal is divided into cherry coals, splint coals, caking coals, and gas coal or cannel. 1888 J. Prestwich Geol. II. 93 Bituminous or Caking Coal. |
† 6. The charred residue left in a retort after distillation.
Obs.| 1801 Med. Jrnl. V. 468. 1801 T. Thomson Chem. II. 363 When tannin is distilled..there comes over also some empyreumatic oil, and a voluminous coal remains behind. 1828 Webster, In the language of chimists, any substance containing oil, which has been exposed to a fire in a close vessel, so that its volatile matter is expelled, and it can sustain a red heat without further decomposition. |
† 7. a. [after L.
carbo,
carbunculus,
Fr. charbon.] A carbuncle.
b. A black crust or core in a boil.
| 1665 G. Harvey Advice agst. Plague 4 Boyls or inflammations about the groin..which if they break, contain a black crust or coal within them. 1671 Salmon Syn. Med. iii. lxxvii. 675 Carbunculus, a burning Coal. Anoint the top of it with Butter of Antimony. |
II. In phrases, etc.
8. black coal,
black-coal, occurs in various senses:
† a. Charcoal, as opposed to
white-coal (
= wood).
† b. Charcoal as a means of making a black mark; hence, a mark of censure.
c. One of the three main kinds of pit-coal; see 5.
d. (
Sc.), a fine sort of cannel coal or jet used by carpenters and masons to mark on wood and stone.
| 1584 Fenner Def. Ministers (1587) 54 Then must he with the blacke Coole of his censure condemne those men. 1589 Pasquill's Ret. B iij, He giues the Englishe a dash ouer the face with a blacke coale, and saith: Traistre Angloi. 1672 Sir C. Wyvill Triple Crown 70 But for this, Friar Pedro has mark'd them with the black coal of parcel Heresie. 1674 Ray Smelting Silver 113 The Oare is melted with black and white Coal: i.e. With Charcoal and wood slit into small pieces. 1840 Henry Elem. Chem. II. 319 Black coal is the substance which is commonly applied to the purposes of fuel. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts I. 356 Black coal, slate coal, cannel coal, and foliated coal, were so called by Jameson and other mineralogists of his day. |
† 9. precious coals!: an obsolete exclamation.
| 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 80 When Roysters ruffle not aboue their rule, Nor colour crafte, by swearing precious coles. 1599 Chapman Hum. Dayes Myrth Plays 1873 I. 77 Gods precious coles tis he! 1606 Heywood 2nd Pt. If You Know not me, etc. Wks. 1874 I. 281 Precious cole, here's a knave round with me. |
10. Phrase
as black as a coal, with its variants, goes back to
OE. times, and appears to have originally belonged to 2; but it is now usually associated with 5.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 332 Wyl eft oþ þæt hit sie swa þicce swa molcen and swa sweart swa col. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 456 He watz colored as þe cole, corby al vntrwe. c 1340 Cursor M. 22489 (Edinb.) Þe sternes..sal haf tint þair liht, and worde al blak sum ani col. c 1460 Towneley Myst. Creatio (1836) 4 Now ar we waxen blak as any coylle. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ii. 60 The kynge..loked grymly and fyersly in his vysage for grete wrath, and becam blacke as a cole. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xliv. 147 As blacke as a cole. 1611 Bible Lament. iv. 8 Their visage is blacker than a cole. |
11. to heap (cast, gather) coals of fire on the head (see
Rom. xii. 20): to produce remorse by requiting evil with good.
to blow the coals: to fan the flames of passion, etc.:
cf. blow v. 17 b.
to blow hot coals: to rage fiercely.
to stir coals: to excite strife or ill-feeling.
a cold coal to blow at: a hopeless task to perform.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 144 To louye..Þine enemye in al wyse euene forth with þi-selue, Cast coles on his hed. 1526–34 Tindale Rom. xii. 20 In so doynge that shalt heape coles of fyre on his heed. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 344 b, After soche sorte did he vpbraid to the people their rashe and vnaduised stieryng of coles, and arisynges to warre. 1589 R. Harvey Pl. Perc. 7 Doe good against euill: and heape hoat burning coales vpon his head. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farm 324 Notwithstanding that they [the (Bee) kings] moue no warre, nor stirre vp anie coales amongst the young swarmed brood. c 1626 Dick of Devon i. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. II. 13 Spaines anger never blew hott coales indeed Till in Queene Elizabeths Raigne. 1638 Sanderson Serm. II. 109 Blow the coal of contention to make it blaze afresh. 1708 M. Bruce Lect. 33 (Jam.) If I had no more to look to but your reports, I would have a cold coal to blow at. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §23 Blowing the Coals between polemical Divines. 1753 Smollett Ct. Fathom (1784) 129/1 By these means he blew the coals of her jealousy. 1816 Scott Old Mort. vii, ‘Aweel,’ said Cuddie..‘I see but ae gate for 't, and that 's a cauld coal to blaw at, mither’. |
12. to carry coals or
bear coals: to do dirty or degrading work, to submit to humiliation or insult.
to haul, call († fetch, † bring) over the coals: to call to account and convict, to reprimand, call to task: originally in reference to the treatment of heretics.
| 1522 Skelton Wks. (ed. Dyce) II. 34 Wyll ye bere no coles? 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 105/1 This gentleman was..one that in an upright quarell would beare no coles. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. i. 1 A my word wee'l not carry coales. 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 15 For now if one..will carrie coales, and meekly suffer rebuke, he is noted of cowardize. 1638 H. Shirley Mart. Soldier ii. i. in Bullen O. Pl. I. 192, I can carry anything but Blowes, Coles, my Drink, and..the tongue of a Scould. a 1683 B. Whichcote Serm., Those who are sensible that they carry coals, and are full of ill will. |
| 1565 Card. Allen in Fulke Confut. (1577) 372 S. Augustine, that knewe best how to fetche an heretike ouer the coles. 1580 G. Gilpin (title), The Bee hiue of the Romische Churche..Wherein, both the Catholic Religion is substantially confirmed, and the Heretikes finely fetcht ouer the coales. 1589 Marprel. Epit. C iij b, Let vs here how you fetch your brethren ouer the coales with your next reason. 1777 R. Forbes Poems Buchan Dial. (1785) 35 (Jam.) But time that tries such proticks past, Brought me out o'er the coals fu' fast. 1832 Marryat N. Forster xiii, Lest he should be ‘hauled over the coals’ by the Admiralty. 1884 H. D. Traill New Lucian 213 Your magistrates..vastly needed a call over the coals. |
13. to carry coals to Newcastle: to take a thing to where it is naturally plentiful; to do what is absurdly superfluous.
| [1606 Heywood 2nd pt. If you know not me Wks. 1874 I. 259 As common as coales from Newcastle.] a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Northumbrld. 302 To carry Coals to Newcastle, that is to do what was done before; or to busy one's self in a needless imployment. 1661 J. Graunt Bills Mortality Ded. Ld. Truro, I should (according to our English Proverb)..but carry Coals to Newcastle. c 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Coals to Newcastle, when the Drawer carries away any Wine in the Pot or Bottle. 1822 Scott Let. Joanna Baillie 10 Feb. in Lockhart, It would be sending coals to Newcastle with a vengeance, not to mention salt to Dysart. 1889 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 24 Dec. 73 It would be like exporting coals to Newcastle. |
III. attrib. and
Comb. (almost exclusively in the current sense 5).
14. attrib. or adj. Of or pertaining to coal.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Coal, The coal countries. 1792 J. Anderson (title), Observations on the Effects of Coal Duty upon the remote and thinly peopled coasts of Britain. 1882 Pall Mall G. 1 July 6/1 The coal lands owned by the company. 1884 Ibid. 8 Jan. 9/2 Works for the compressing of coal briquettes. Ibid. 14 Aug. 1/2 At the present day speed, armament, and coal capacity are everything. 1888 Ibid. 30 Oct. 12/1 The coal famine with which London was threatened when we last wrote on the coal crisis. |
15. General combinations:
a. attributive, as
coal-agent,
coal-ashes,
coal-coke,
coal-country,
coal-district,
coal-heap,
coal-merchant,
coal-monger,
coal-salesman,
coal-trade;
coal-laden adj.; (employed in the working, carriage, storing, etc. of coal), as
coal-axe,
coal-barge,
coal-basket,
coal-bin,
coal-bunk,
coal-carriage,
coal-cart,
coal-cellar,
coal-chute,
coal-creel (
Sc.),
coal-delf,
coal-depôt,
coal-fleet,
coal-glove,
coal-hammer,
coal-hold,
coal-place,
coal-shed,
coal-ship,
coal-shovel,
coal-sieve,
coal-smack,
coal-tongs,
coal-trough,
coal-wagon,
coal-wharf, etc.; (of coal in its geological character), as
coal-basin,
coal-deposit,
coal-flora,
coal-formation,
coal-rock,
coal-strata,
coal-vein;
b. objective (and
obj. genit.), as
coal-bearer,
coal-boring,
coal-carrying,
coal-cutter (machine),
coal-cutter (person),
coal-cutting,
coal-getter,
coal-getting,
coal-hewer,
coal-measurer,
coal-producing, etc.;
coal-fed adj.;
c. similative, as
coal-blue,
coal-dark adjs.;
d. parasynthetic, as
coal-eyed,
coal-faced adjs.| 1657 Austen Fruit Trees i. 71 Put in sand or *cole ashes or any stuffe that is barren. 1833 Brewster Nat. Magic x. 254 Having rubbed his fingers with coal-ashes to keep them from slipping. |
| 1837 Lockhart Scott iii, The maid servant..struck her mistress to death with a *coal axe. |
| 1827 in Hone Every-Day Bk. II. 1040 The *coal-barge on the opposite shore. |
| 1854 F. C. Bakewell Geol. 367 The occurrence of this arrangement of strata has caused the term ‘*coal basin’ to be applied to a confined district of coal. |
| 1710 C. Verney Let. (1930) I. xi. 191 The things we want is [sic] a Stove to burn Coals in the Little Parlor and a *Coal Basket. 1947 M. Lowry Let. 13 Aug. (1967) 151 The dying Antony..being hauled up a clock tower in a coal-basket by Cleopatra. |
| 1661 in Beveridge Hist. Culross Town Records, Margaret Wilson *coal-bearer. 1799 Act 39 Geo. III, c. 56 Preamb., Many Colliers, Coalbearers and Salters were bound for life to, and transferable with, the Collieries and Salt works. |
| 1864 Webster, *Coal-bin. 1870 L. M. Alcott Old-Fash. Girl xii. 194 Only my best cuffs and collar; you'll probably find them in the coal-bin. 1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 43 The people used to have their coalbins under the sidewalk. |
| 1861 G. W. Dasent Burnt Njal I. 87 In rushed the *coal-blue sea. 1887 Morris Odyss. iii. 200 The wind and the water bore their coal-blue prows. |
| 1867 Morning Star 22 Nov. She stayed at St. Thomas, resolving rather to delay a day or so than come away with her *coal-bunks half filled. |
| 1772 Ann. Reg., Mr. Moore's new-invented *coal-carriage, the wheels of which are 15 feet high. |
| 1892 Daily News 8 June 2/3 A most important *coal-carrying line. 1905 Daily Chron. 6 Jan. 5/5 The Berrington has been engaged in coal-carrying between the Tyne and the Continent for nearly forty years. |
| 1839 Boston Herald 17 Dec. 1/6 His horse shied at a *coal-cart. |
| 1838 Dickens O. Twist ii, He was keeping it [his birthday] in the *coal-cellar. |
| 1846 Greener Sci. Gunnery 101 The adoption of *coal-coke was a matter of necessity. |
| 1776 Pennant Tour Scotl. II. 203 On this coast, and..in most of the *coal countries of North-Britain. 1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights. I. viii. 154 A bleak, hilly, coal country. |
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxxviii. 51 A payr of *Coil Crellis. |
| 1871–3 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers I. 23 (Article) The Monitor *Coal-cutter. 1898 Daily News 14 Apr. 6/5 How are we to estimate what the average coal-cutter earns? |
| 1866 Jevons Coal Question 60 The new *coal-cutting machines. |
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 145 Through the *coal-dark underground. |
| 1733 Derby Mercury II. 1733 To be lett, a very good *coal-delph. |
| 1883 Science I. 114 The small areal surface occupied by the *coal-deposits of France. |
| 1861 Tylor Anahuac iv. 87 In *coal- and iron-districts in England. |
| 1598 Rowlands Betraying Christ 25 Wrap me from eies *cole-fac'd eternall night. |
| 1890 Pall Mall Gaz. 2 June 3/3 The *coal-fed furnace. 1899 Mrs. H. Fraser Diplom. Wife in Japan I. 6 Our great coal-fed, screw-driven liner. |
| 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4720/2 Our *Coal Fleet waits only a fair Wind to set sail. |
| 1873 Geikie Gt. Ice Age App. 479 In the swamps within, the *coal-flora flourished. |
| 1850 Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. II. 299 Composed of strata of the *coal formation. |
| 1888 Pall Mall G. 30 Oct. 12/1 Many non-producers who share in the rise in wages besides the *coal-getter. 1883–4 Trans. N. Engl. Inst. Mining Engineers XXXIII. 37 (Article) The Harwell Mechanical coal-getter. |
| 1869–70 Ibid. XIX. 239 Jones' *coal getting machine. |
| 1932 D. C. Minter Mod. Needlecraft 246/1 *Coal Glove... Draw round hand with fingers closed. 1938 D. Smith Dear Octopus i. 13 Take the coal-glove, dear, then you won't spoil your hands. |
| 1875 Princess Alice Mem. (1884) 340 The town grows so, and is all railroad and *coal-heaps. |
| 1887 Monthly Chron. (Newc.) I. 111 (Article) Notable *Coal-hewers. |
| 1839 Parl. Report Steam Vessel Accid. 74 Neither the bunkers nor the *coal-hold were cleared out so often as they should be. |
| 1878 F. Williams Midl. Railw. 603 *Coal-laden trucks block up the siding. Coal-laden trains are groaning and grunting hither and thither. |
| 1720 Lond. Gaz. No. 5880/6 John Hall, *Coal⁓measurer. |
| 1677 Patent 29 Chas. II in Brand Newcastle (1789) II. 668 The society of *coale merchants tradeing to Newcastle. Mod. Newspaper. Coal-merchants find great difficulty in executing their orders. |
| 1697 View Penal Laws 49 (Heading of ch.) *Coalmongers and Colliers. |
| 1742 J. Yarrow Love at First Sight 46 Lock him up in the *Coal-Place 'till he is sober. |
| 1860 E. Hull Coal-fields Gt. Brit. 2 Fast approaching extinction as a *coal-producing district. |
| 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal and Coal-mining 95 The extent of the *coal⁓rocks. |
| 1639 R. Junius Sinne Stigmatizd §101. 389 The Pirat never spends his shott upon *cole ships. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 44 The masters of coal-ships..they call collier-masters. |
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 337/2 The *Coale or Lyme Sive hath wide square holes. |
| 1883 Black Shandon Bells xxvii, He pointed out where the *coal-smack had come to grief. |
| 1830 Herschel Study Nat. Phil. 45 Separated from the *coal-strata by a series of interposed beds. |
| 1655 R. Gardiner (title), England's Grievance discovered in relation to the *Coal Trade. 1852 M{supc}Culloch Dict. Comm. 298 The total number of persons directly engaged in the coal trade may be set down at from 190,000 to 220,000. |
| 1594 Merry Knack to Know a Knave in Hazl. Dodsley VI. 567 My bellows, my *coal-trough, and my water. |
| 1665 D. Dudley Metallum Martis (1854) 39 The manner of the *cole-veins or measures in these parts. |
| 1827 Hone Every-Day Bk. II. 858 Every description of vehicle, from a *coal⁓waggon to a wheel-barrow. |
| 1695 Lond. Gaz. No. 3059/4 A convenient..Wharf..which..hath been employed as a *Coal-Wharf. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVI. 342/1 There are several coal-wharfs on its line. |
16. Special comb.:
coal-backer, a man who carries coal on his back between the boat and the wharf or wagon; so
coal-backing;
coal-ball, a ball made of coal-dust for use as fuel; also, a round mass, usually of calcite or pyrite, found in or near a coal-seam, and containing fossilized plant remains;
coal-bank U.S., a bank from which coal is obtained;
coal baron U.S. (see
baron 2 b);
coal-bearing a. (
Geol.), containing coal, carboniferous;
coal-bed (
Geol.), a stratum of coal;
coal-blacking, a blacking made from ground coal, used by ironfounders;
† coal-blende, iron pyrites of the coal-measures;
† coal-blower, a term of contempt for an alchemist, a quack (
cf. Ger. kohlen-bläser); also
= blow-coal (
cf. blow- 3);
coal-brand, smut or brand in corn;
coal-brass, a name of the iron pyrites found in some coal-measures (
cf. brass 1 e.);
coal-breaker, one who breaks coal; also
techn., see
quot.; so
coal-breaking;
coal-bunker, a place for storing coal,
spec. in a ship;
† coal-burner, a charcoal-burner;
coal-bushel, a bushel measure used for coal (see
quot.);
coal-car U.S., a coal-wagon;
† coal-clive (see
cliff 4);
† coal-crimp, a coal-factor;
coal-drift, a channel or gallery in a coal-mine;
coal-drop, a chute for coal, a place where coal is ‘shot’; also, an apparatus used for dropping a coal wagon from a staith to the level of a ship's hatchway;
† coal-engine, a colliery engine;
Coal-Exchange, an Exchange devoted to the coal trade;
coal-face, (
a) (see
quot. 1883); (
b) loosely, the pits, the mining industry;
coal-fired a., heated or driven by coal;
coal-fitter, a colliery agent who conducts the sale of coal to shippers;
coal-flap, a flap (on the pavement) covering the entrance to a coal-cellar;
† coal-fold, an enclosure for storing coal;
coal-gabbard (
Sc.), a lighter for carrying coal;
† coal-garth, a coal-yard;
coal-goose, a local name of the cormorant;
coal-handler (
U.S.), a man employed in loading or unloading coal;
coal-hod, a coal-box (
U.S. and
dial.);
coal-horse, a heavy horse for drawing coal-wagons;
coal-hulk, a hulk used for supplying steamers with coal;
coal-kiln, a place where charcoal is made;
† coal-kindler (
fig.), one who enflames or stirs up strife;
† coal-light, a ‘light’ or beacon kept up with coal;
coal lumper, one who loads coal into vessels;
coal-master, the proprietor or lessee of a colliery; a coal-owner;
coal naphtha, naphtha obtained by the distillation of coal-tar;
coal-note, a kind of promissory note formerly in use in the port of London;
coal-oil, in N.
Amer., petroleum, or an oil refined therefrom, as paraffin; also
attrib.; hence
coal-oil v. trans., to smear with coal-oil;
coal-pan,
† (
a) a brazier; (
b) a coal-scuttle;
coal-passer, one who passes coal on to the furnace of a steam-boiler;
coal-pen, an enclosure for the storage of coal;
† coal-perch, a fish resembling the perch;
coal-picker, a person who picks up stray lumps of coal; so
coal-picking vbl. n.;
coal-plant, a plant of the coal-measures;
coal-plate, an iron plate on a pavement covering the opening to a coal-cellar;
coal-putter, the putter in a coal-pit who removes the coal after it is hewed;
coal-salt, a fine salt (generally discoloured by soot) obtained from brine by surface-evaporation;
coal-scoop, (
a) a coal-shovel, (
b) a coal-box;
coal-screen, a frame or screen for separating small or dust coal from larger coal;
coal-seam, a stratum or bed of coal;
coal-shaft, the shaft of a coal-mine;
coal-shed, a shed for storing coal, or for the sale of coal in small quantities;
coal-shoot, (
a) (
dial.) a coal-scuttle; (
b)
= coal-drop;
coal-skip, a coal-scuttle;
coal-slack,
-slake,
-sleck, dust or grime of coal;
coal-smut, small powdery coal mixed with earthy matter; also see
quot. 1790;
coal-spout, a chute at a coal-staith down which coals are poured from the wagon to the ship;
coal-staith, an elevated wharf with a chute or drop for shipping coal;
† coal-stalk = coal-plant;
† coal-stealer (
Sc.), see
quot.;
coal-tip [
tip n.5 3], an apparatus from which coal is tipped into a receptacle;
coal-trimmer, one who stows away coal in a vessel as cargo, or in the bunkers of a steam-ship as fuel;
† coal-turned a., turned into charcoal;
coal-vase, a ‘fancy’ coal-box;
coal-vend, (
a) the general sale of coals, (
b) the limited quantity of coal to which each colliery was restricted by a former combination of coal owners on the Tyne and Wear;
coal-washer, a man or machine employed in washing impurities from coal; so
coal-washing;
coal-water, water from a coal-mine;
† coal-wood, wood for turning into charcoal;
coal-yard, a yard in which coal is stored or sold.
| 1861 Mayhew Lond. Labour II. 156 On questioning one, he said his father was a *coal-backer. |
| Ibid. III. 252 *Coal-backing is as heavy a class of labour as any performed. |
| 1741 Phil. Trans. (Abridg.) VIII. 483 (title), Account of *Coal Balls made at Liege, from the dust of Pit Coals. 1770–4 A. Hunter Georg. Ess. (1803) III. 149 About Bristol..they make coal-balls of their culm. 1902 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 811 On the Occurrence of the Nodular Concretions (Coal Balls) in the Lower Coal Measures. 1921 Brit. Museum Return 151 Two Coal-balls from the Coal Measures, Romsée, near Liége. 1935 Discovery Sept. 274/1 Carboniferous Calamites preserved in coal balls. |
| 1805 in L. & R. H. Collins Hist. Kentucky (1874) I. 408 A *coal bank is within three hundred yards. 1816 U. Brown Jrnl. in Maryland Hist. Mag. XI. 142 Thence on said River 4 Miles to a Coal Bank. 1837 Peck Gaz. Illinois (ed. 2) ii. 135 Extensive coal banks exist in the county. 1886 Harper's Mag. June 62/2 A gentleman who wanted a coal bank opened engaged for the work a man passing along the road. |
| 1887, 1902 *Coal baron [see baron 2 b]. 1945 Nation 31 Mar. 353/1 He recites his picturesque polemics against the coal barons. |
| 1833 Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 327 The *coal-bearing strata are characterized by several hundred species of plants. 1863 A. Ramsay Phys. Geog. 40 There are in Edinburghshire over 3000 feet of coal-bearing strata. |
| 1802 Playfair Illustr. Hutton. Th. 159 What occupied the place of the *coal-bed before? 1861 H. Macmillan Footnotes Page Nat. 5 A coal-bed is, in fact, a hortus-siccus of extinct cryptogamic vegetation. |
| 1806 Davy in Phil. Trans. XCVII. 55 Where pyritous strata and strata of *coal-blende occur. |
| 1721 N. Hodges Acc. Plague 151 So our modern *coal blowers have..cried up their pernicious secrets and wickedly imposed them upon the credulous Populace. |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Coal-breaker, a building containing the machinery for breaking coal with toothed rolls, sizing it with sieves, and cleaning it for market. |
| 1833 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. II. 232/3 [A servant] whose principal business it was to attend to the *coal-bunkers..for the supply of the fires. 1840 Monthly Chron. (Boston) July 240 The engines, boilers, and coal-bunkers occupy a space of 70 feet, the width of the vessel. a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., Coal-bunker, the closed room around the boiler and engine-room of a steam vessel for keeping the fuel. 1886 Harper's Mag. June 4/2 The capacity of her coal-bunkers is 630 tons. 1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 15 Sept. 266 Coal Bunker. To hold 2 cwt., 18 by 16 by 36 in. high. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 30 Nov. 2/1 The saved coal-bunker space is..available for additional cargo. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 8 Jan. 10/1 At least 1,000 coal-cars were added to the rolling-stock. |
| 1725 Lond. Gaz. No. 6382/11 Thomas Cundy..*Coal-Burner. |
| 1827 Hutton Course Math. I. 28 The dimensions of the Winchester bushel..were 8 inches deep, and 18½ inches wide or in diameter. But the *Coal bushel was to be 19½ inches in diameter. |
| 1858 Penn. Rail Road Annual Rep. 14 The rolling stock..consisted..of..92 Four-wheeled *Coal Cars. |
| 1719 Strachey in Phil. Trans. XXX. 969 A Dark or Blackish Rock, which they call the *Coal Clives. |
| 1698 Cay ibid. XX. 368 A Current of Water that runs through a *Coal-Drift. |
| 1878 F. Williams Midl. Railw. 247 If some 3½ acres of land were arched over for *coal drops, at least 250,000 tons of coal could be disposed of. |
| 1806 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 49 Upon this water [the Orr] there are six corn-mills, two fulling mills..and one *coal-engine. |
| 1809 Tomlins Law Dict. s.v. Coals, Stat. 28 Geo. 3 c. 53 was past..for the purpose of putting an end to the Society at the *Coal Exchange formed to regulate (i.e. to monopolize) the trade. |
| 1872 Good Words for Young 89/2 They hang their lamps above their heads, and then swinging their picks, make a ledge in the *coal face. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-m. 55 Coal face, the working face or wall of a stall, composed wholly of coal. 1929 Daily Express 7 Nov. 2/3 Two Lancashire Socialist members who recently worked at the coal face and were returned to Parliament for the first time in May. 1955 Times 7 July 8/7 Delegates considered that the profits from distribution ‘from the coalface to the hearth’ would ensure that the industry would always pay. |
| 1909 Daily Chron. 17 Apr. 4/7 Baked fifty-five minutes in *coal-fired oven. 1956 Nature 4 Feb. 204/2 The capacity of coal-fired plant must be expected to continue to rise. |
| 1860 Smiles Self-Help vi. 157 Lord Eldon was the son of a Newcastle *coal-fitter. |
| 1881 C. Dickens Dict. Lond., *Coal-flaps and gratings of all kinds should be distrusted. |
| 1704 Minutes Torryburn Sess. in Ess. Witchcr. (1820) 137 The west end of the *Coalfold. |
| 1776 G. Semple Building in Water 51 The *Coal-gabbards were stopped for the first Time, and missed three Tides. |
| 1593 Rites Durham (1842) 83 A litle stone house, joyninge of the *Cole garth. |
| 1802 G. Montagu Ornith. Dict., *Coal⁓goose. 1862 Johns Brit. Birds Index, Cole or Coal Goose, the Cormorant. |
| 1887 Evening Standard 27 Jan. 2/5 The strike of the *coal handlers (New York). 1888 Pall Mall G. 12 May 7/2 The New Jersey coal-handlers. |
| a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, *Coal-hod..to hold the coals. 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Coal-hod, a kettle for carrying coals to the fire. More frequently called, as in England, a coal-scuttle. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Coal-hod, a wooden coal-scuttle. |
| 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. I. 8 May, Waggons, and *Coal-horses. |
| 1533 tr. Erasm. on Com. Crede 69 b, Nestorius whiles he dothe dylygently eschewe this lyme kylle, he felle into the *colekylne. 1776 P. V. Fithian Jrnl. 17 Jan. (1934) 162 A Fog of Smoke rises from off it as from a Coal Kiln. 1847 G. N. Jones Florida Plantat. Recs. (1927) 318, 2 work on the mill, 3 make Coal kill. 1961 F. G. Cassidy Jamaica Talk v. 78 In Jamaica there are not only lime-kilns but coal-kilns (or coal-skill) for the burning of charcoal, which is called fire-coal. |
| a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams ii. 104 (D.) It may be a *coal-kindler would think such counsel as this not worth the hearing. |
| 1798 in Naval Chron. (1799) I. 81 There has long been a *coal-light on the Isles. |
| 1908 Daily Chron. 29 Aug. 1/6 *Coal Lumpers Refuse to Work on American Hospital Ship. |
| 1878 F. Williams Midl. Railw. 8 The resolution at which the *coal-masters had arrived. |
| 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 720 The analogy between *coal naphtha and the petrolene of Boussingault. |
| 1859 Rep. Comm. Patents 1858 I. 726 This lamp..is more especially designed for burning *coal oil and similar substances that are rich in carbon. 1860 T. Shaw U.S. Pat. 28,539 Coal-oil furnace. 1875 T. Hill True Order Studies 93 The nature of the various coals, and coal oils. 1883 Century Mag. July 326/1 The ‘coal oil’ as it [petroleum] was then called. 1894 Congress. Rec. 5 Feb. 1862/1 The colored people are tortured; they are mutilated; they are coal-oiled and burned. 1897 B. Harraden H. Strafford vi. 94 Empty coal-oil tins and preserved pine-apples are not very fattening, are they? 1926 J. Black You can't Win xv. 197 He sat in state on a coal-oil can by the fire. 1966 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 27 Feb. 13/1 The editor..by the light of a coal oil lamp..set up line by line the announcement. |
| 1535 Coverdale Jer. lii. 19 The basens, *colepannes, sprinklers, pottes, candlestickes. 1885 T. Mozley Reminisc. Towns, etc. I. 377 Childers at once pronounced me a north-country-man when I called the coal-scuttle a ‘coal-pan’. |
| 1884 in Century Mag. Jan. 364/2 In that blanching pit nine *coal-passers and twelve stokers were speeding their lives. |
| 1827 J. Powell Devises II. 189 A *coal pen which was on the opposite side of the road near the house. |
| 1672 Phil. Trans. VII. 4070 A small fish, much esteem'd here, and not much unlike a Pearch: only not so party coloured..call'd the *Cole-pearch. |
| 1934 Webster, *Coal picker. |
| 1931 Economist 21 Mar. 605/1 They..go *coal-picking among the ‘tips’. 1937 ‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier vi. 103 Now and again..the colliery companies prosecute somebody for coal-picking... The coal-pickers subscribe among themselves to pay the fines. |
| 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 36 Another sort of Labourers which are called Barrow-Men, or *Coal-putters, these Persons take the hewed Coals from the Hewers. 1789 Brand Newcastle II. 681 note, Coal-putters..who fill the corves..with the coals wrought by the hewer, and then draw them..to the pit-shaft. |
| 1880 G. Lunge Sulphuric Acid II. 131 The very fine ‘butter salt’, or ‘*coal salt’, obtained by top heat according to Pohl's process. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Coal-scoop, a shovel for taking coals from a scuttle to throw on a fire. 1883 Civil Service Price-list, Coal scoops, the ‘Haymarket’. The newest and best of the high class brass scoops..‘Albert’ coal-scoop, with Hand-scoop. |
| 1850 Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. II. 81 The beds of black shale covering each *coal-seam. 1863 A. Ramsay Phys. Geog. 136 Were it not for our coal-seams, the agency of steam would be almost wholly denied to us. |
| 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 21 Many times we are forced..to have a Water-Course or Drift from the intended *Coal-Shaft to this other Shaft. |
| 1719 D'Urfey Pills IV. 143 Embraces in *Coal sheds. 1816 Gentl. Mag. LXXXVI. i. 229 In a coal-shed attached to a Grocer's shop. |
| 1813 W. Taylor Eng. Syn. (1856) 45 Set down the *coal⁓shoot. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 111 Plant him and have done with him. Like down a coalshoot. 1939 C. Isherwood Goodbye to Berlin 197 Take a good big jump. Or you'll fall down the coal-shoot and into the cellar. |
| 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal (Cabinet Cycl.) II. 202 Removing the dust and coals from the hearthstone to the *coalskip. |
| 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. iii. 45 Froome for her disgrace Since scarcely ever washt the *Colesleck from her face. |
| 1790 W. Marshall Midland Count. Gloss. (E.D.S.), *Coal-smut, a fossil, or an efflorescence, found on the surface, over seams of coal. 1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 199 In most coal fields there are thin strata of coal⁓smut or carbonaceous and other particles intermixt. |
| 1816 J. Rennie in Mackenzie Newcastle (1827) II. 742 To altering *coal-staiths and other landing or shipping places..{pstlg}25,000. 1883 W. C. Russell Sea Queen I. xiv. 249 She was alongside a coal-staith. |
| 1793 D. Ure Hist. Rutherglen 302 (Jam.) Those impressions abound in coal countries; and are, in many places, not improperly known by the name of *Coal-stalk. |
| 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1688/4 This story had its rise from some rascally Boys (whom we call here [Edinburgh] *Coal stealers). 1825–79 Jamieson Coalstealer Rake, a thief, a vagabond, or one who rakes during night for the purpose of depredation. |
| 1906 Cornford Defenceless Islands 54 The frame-work with the rising platform is called a *coal-tip. |
| 1856 L. Herbert Engineers and Mech. Encycl. II. 746 On the arrival of every vessel, a gang of *Coal trimmers enter her and sweep down every atom of coal into the bunkers. |
| 1615 Chapman Odyss. iii. (R.), Then Nestor broil'd them on the *coal-turn'd wood. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Coal-washer, a machine in which coal which has been broken and assorted is finally washed to deprive it of the dust and dirt adhering. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §049 Coal washer;..works at machine for washing coal in washery to remove impurities. 1930 Engineering 14 Feb. 196/1 The term coal⁓washing, within recent years, has come to mean the general preparation of the coal for direct or indirect utilisation. |
| 1698 Cay in Phil. Trans. XX. 368 It's no great Wonder if such a Water should yield Vitriol, as many of our *Coal-waters do. 1806 Forsyth Beauties Scotl. IV. 49 This water [the Orr]..in its course being mixed with coal-water, has never been used for the purpose of bleaching. |
| 1691 Overseers' Acc. Wakes' Colne, Essex (MS.) 20 Paid for 2 loades of wood and a stack of *coalewood. |
| 1805 in L. & R. H. Collins Hist. Kentucky (1874) I. 408 There are also..a *coal yard and a boat yard. 1834 Chambers's Edin. Jrnl. III. 305/1 He must go himself to the coal-yard. |
▪ II. coal, n.2 slang. Money: see
cole.
▪ III. coal, v. (
kəʊl)
[f. prec. n.] 1. trans. To convert into charcoal; to char.
| 1602 Carew Cornwall (J.), Buying the wood..fetching the same, when it is coaled. 1626 Bacon Sylva (1677) §775 Char-coal of Roots, being coaled into great pieces, last longer than ordinary Char-coal. 1746 G. Adams Micrograph. xliii. (1747) 229 The Body to be charred or coaled may be put into a Crucible. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts I. 759 The earliest plan of coaling wood. |
† 2. To write or delineate with charcoal.
Obs.| 1605 Camden Rem. 17 A suter..did at length frame this distiche, and coled it on a wall. Ibid. (1637) 337 Whereat mervailing, he coled out these rymes upon the wall. |
† 3. To bore or sink down to a (coal-seam).
Obs. rare.
| 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 31 Having happily Coaled this Noble Main-Coal—my business as a Sinker is at an end. |
4. To supply (a steam-ship, engine, fire, etc.) with coal for fuel.
| 1864 Daily Tel. 18 Oct., Captain Wood asked..permission to coal his vessel. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. v. (ed. 2) 146 Facilities for coaling a steamer. |
5. intr. To take in a supply of coal.
| 1858 Merc. Mar. Mag. V. 274 There being..no harbour..where such a vessel can coal. 1884 Manch. Exam. 7 Oct. 5/7 The movement resembled that at Port Said when a mail steamer is coaling. |