Meanings
- uncountablemedicineA chronic disease of the lungs caused by the long-term inhalation of coal dust.
Thousands of miners have given their lives and their health. They've got black lung, they can't work. The Pittston company is trying to cut off their health benefits by various means. That's what the strike is about.
1989 December 3, Pam Mitchell, Ronnie Gilbert, “Carrying On The Honorable Tradition Of 'Protest Music'”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 21, page 9Synonyms: coalworker's pneumoconiosis, CWP, miner's cough, miner's lung, miner's disease
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA chronic disease of the lungs caused by the long-term inhalation of coal dust.
More synonyms by meaning
nounlung disease caused by inhaling coal dust
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
French silicose
- silicosecoal dust pneumoconiosis
Irish scamhóg dhubh
- scamhóg dhubhcoal dust pneumoconiosis
Polish pylica węglowa
- pylica węglowacoal dust pneumoconiosis
Cite this entry
black lung. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20lung
“black lung.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20lung. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black lung,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20lung.
Source: black lung on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.