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definitions

footwall

[foo t-wawl]
noun
  1. Mining. the top of the rock stratum underlying a vein or bed of ore.Compare hanging wall(def 1).
  2. Geology. a mass of rock lying beneath a fault plane.

Origin of footwall

First recorded in 1640–50; foot + wall
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for footwall

Historical Examples of footwall

  • The total area of ore measured on the footwall was 785 acres.

  • But the hardest rock of the hanging or footwall, however, is seldom as hard as the harder class of ore.

    De Re Metallica

    Georgius Agricola

  • To these timbers are fixed small timbers along the footwall, to which are fastened the lagging and ladders.

    De Re Metallica

    Georgius Agricola

  • Stringers are given the same characteristics as veins, but divided into hanging, footwall, and other varieties.

    De Re Metallica

    Georgius Agricola

  • The ratio of ore area to total explored area, measured in the plane of the footwall, was 21-½ per cent.

British Dictionary definitions for footwall

footwall

noun
  1. the rocks on the lower side of an inclined fault plane or mineral veinCompare hanging wall
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
footwall in Science

footwall

[fut′wôl′]
  1. The block of rock lying under an inclined geologic fault plane. See more at fault. Compare hanging wall.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.