Aberfan

British

/ ˌæbəˈvæn /

noun

a former coal-mining village in S Wales, in Merthyr Tydfil county borough: scene of a disaster in 1966 when a slag heap collapsed onto part of the village killing 144 people (including 116 children)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Thompson wants to ensure the victims of Aberfan are remembered as individuals not statistics.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

Amgueddfa Cymru's curator, Ceri Thompson, oversees the Aberfan collection that has grown in recent years.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

It joined Dunblane, Aberfan and Lockerbie, and later Southport, as towns forever associated with tragedy.

From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026

Having rarely spoken publicly about the disaster, Mair has also watched as the story of Aberfan is repeated, and sometimes, skewed.

From BBC • Feb. 22, 2026

After a short break to London arranged by the National Union of Teachers, Mair returned to Aberfan.

From BBC • Feb. 22, 2026

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023