colliery

[kol-yuh-ree]

noun, plural col·lier·ies.

a coal mine, including all buildings and equipment.

Origin of colliery

First recorded in 1625–35; collier + -y³

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for colliery

Contemporary Examples of colliery

Benxihu, China (1942) To date, the Benxihu (Honkeiko) colliery was the site of the most lethal mining accidents on record.
Turkey's Tragedy and History's Worst Mining Accidents
Emily Shire
May 14, 2014
After four days of rescue efforts, mine officials decided to seal off the colliery and end the search for lives and bodies.
Turkey's Tragedy and History's Worst Mining Accidents
Emily Shire
May 14, 2014

Historical Examples of colliery

But he would not be put down by the bully of the colliery, and he fought him.
Lives of the Engineers
Samuel Smiles
Her husband, she said, was not in the p. 130house at present, but she would send for him to the colliery.
Lives of the Engineers
Samuel Smiles
He was away, it was believed in Durham, working at some colliery engine.
The Vicar of Bullhampton
Anthony Trollope
They were compelled to go to him by the rules of the colliery.
Derrick Sterling
Kirk Monroe
A few empty motor-cars of the colliery directors stood about.
Old Junk
H. M. Tomlinson

British Dictionary definitions for colliery

colliery

noun plural -lieries

mainly British a coal mine

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

Word Origin and History for colliery

1630s, "coal mine," see collier + -y (1).