afterdamp

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Related to afterdamp: firedamp, Black damp

af·ter·damp

(ăf′tər-dămp′)

An asphyxiating mixture of gases, primarily nitrogen and carbon dioxide, left in a mine after a fire or an explosion.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

afterdamp

(ˈɑːftəˌdæmp)

1. (Elements & Compounds) a poisonous mixture of gases containing carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen formed after the explosion of firedamp in coal mines. See also whitedamp

2. (Mining & Quarrying) a poisonous mixture of gases containing carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen formed after the explosion of firedamp in coal mines. See also whitedamp

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

af•ter•damp

(ˈæf tərˌdæmp, ˈɑf-)

n.

an unbreathable mixture of gases, consisting chiefly of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, left in a mine after an explosion or fire.

[1855–60]

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Noun

afterdamp - a toxic mixture of gases (including carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide and nitrogen) after an explosion of firedamp in a mine

gas - a fluid in the gaseous state having neither independent shape nor volume and being able to expand indefinitely

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References in periodicals archive ?

A jury inquest the following April concluded the deaths were due to afterdamp and burns caused by an explosion of gas.

The grisly secret that lies beneath Tata steelworks; Beneath the huge Tata steelworks in Port Talbot bodies are entombed in coal-rich earth alongside 20 horses following a massive explosion in the 19th century. Laura Clements reports

During this time The Times reported: "While these melancholy operations were going on, the poor women who day after day had trudged to the pit in the hope of seeing the bodies of their husbands brought to bank gave way to despairing cries, and were reluctantly persuaded to return to their homes." A jury inquest the following April concluded the deaths were due to afterdamp and burns caused by an explosion of gas.

PIT DISASTER VICTIMS ARE BURIED UNDER STEELWORKS

Those who lost their lives were killed by the explosion or by carbon monoxide gas, known as afterdamp, which developed in the wake of the blast.