What does "firedamp" mean?

A flammable gas (mostly methane) found in coal mines; forms an explosive mixture with air.

What is a synonym for "firedamp"?

Common synonyms include: afterdamp, blackdamp, breath, chokedamp, cloud, coal gas.

Firedamp

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A flammable gas (mostly methane) found in coal mines; forms an explosive mixture with air. uncountable, usually
2
a mixture of gases (mostly methane) that form in coal mines and become explosive when mixed with air wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

afterdamp blackdamp breath chokedamp cloud coal gas

Etymology

From fire + damp with 'damp' not in the usual sense of 'moist' but old German, modern Dutch, Danish 'damp' as steam or vapour, hence a gas liable to catch fire.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.