Goaf
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A rick or stack (of hay, etc.) when laid up inside a barn (e.g., as winter fodder). countable, uncountable
- 2 That part of a mine from which the mineral has been partially or wholly removed. countable, uncountable
- 3 The waste left in old mine workings; goafing. countable, uncountable
"1869, George Fowler, On a Method of Abstracting Explosive Gas from the Goaves of Coal Mines, in Transactions, Volume 18, North of England Institute of Mining Engineers, page 160, In an operation of this kind, primarily for the purpose of extracting the gas out of the goaves, but also with a view to drain the solid coal, it is clear that it is desirable, as much as possible, to draw as directly as possible from the goaf."
Example
More examples"1869, George Fowler, On a Method of Abstracting Explosive Gas from the Goaves of Coal Mines, in Transactions, Volume 18, North of England Institute of Mining Engineers, page 160, In an operation of this kind, primarily for the purpose of extracting the gas out of the goaves, but also with a view to drain the solid coal, it is clear that it is desirable, as much as possible, to draw as directly as possible from the goaf."
Etymology
Compare gob.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.