gathering coal
gathering coal noun: coal left lit and smothered in embers overnight, around which kindling wood is gathered the morning after.
Noun
gathering coal (plural gathering coals)
- coal left lit and smothered in embers overnight, around which kindling wood is gathered the morning after.
- The wind sighs over the upland, just like a parting soul;
Get to bed with you all — I'll stay, and keep my watch by the gathering coal.1876, Susan K. Phillips, “The Seven-Nights' Watch”, in Littell's Living Age - it is by no means uncommon for a young spinster to admit her enamoured swain after the family have retired for the night, and give him an opportunity of furthering his tender suit before the kitchen fire, which is never allowed to go out, but is packed with the gathering coal, and well happed on...1863-1864, John Wykeham Archer, “A border wooing”, in Once a Week
- The wind sighs over the upland, just like a parting soul;
Forms of gathering coal
| plural | gathering coals |
|---|
Questions about gathering coal
- What does gathering coal mean?
- Gathering coal means coal left lit and smothered in embers overnight, around which kindling wood is gathered the morning after.
- What part of speech is gathering coal?
- Gathering coal is a noun.
- What is the plural of gathering coal?
- The plural of gathering coal is gathering coals.
Words near gathering coal in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gathering coal (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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