afterdamp

[af-ter-damp, ahf-]

noun

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

afterdamp

/ ˈɑːftəˌdæmp /

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of afterdamp¹

First recorded in 1855–60; after + damp

Example Sentences

He learned that there were twenty-seven men yet missing, but it was thought that the afterdamp had killed them all.

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Carbon monoxide, the gas released after a methane explosion – known to miners as afterdamp – is just as lethal in a different way.

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All of them, young or old, were dazed and bent from the effects of afterdamp, and scarcely one of them had strength to rise till they were helped to their feet.

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We had not gone fifty yards before we came on the afterdamp, filling the headway like smoke.

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You know, it is a product of combustion, and is very deadly—it is the much-dreaded white damp or afterdamp of a mine explosion.

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