Meanings
coal country1
- A region historically dependent on the coal mining industry.
Coal country in America is in the midst of a historic transition. Whether it’s Welch, West Virginia or Cumberland, Kentucky or Gillette, communities that have built their cultures and economies around coal face a future without it.
2020 June 23, Dustin Bleizeffer and Mason Adams, “Transition in Coal Country: Rural communities on the brink”, in WyoFile, archived from the original on 05 Oct 20232 more examples
Once known as coal country, this impoverished region of the US is trying to build a future without the coal industry. ... The area, once given the epithet of "coal country", has seen an increasing decline in economic activities over the past several decades.
2017 March 1, Sana Saeed, “In Appalachia, some hope for a future without coal”, in Al Jazeera, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2025Growing up around coal country, everyone’s got family members that were killed in the mines and stuff like that. There would always be legends about how their ghosts would haunt the mines. There’s a place near I grew up in Bell County, Kentucky, where there was a mine collapse back in the 20s...
2025 October 31, Wendigoon, “Journal of a Coal Miner’s Daughter”, in CreepCast
Coal Country2
- Alternative letter-case form of coal country.
Origin
Cite this entry
coal country. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coal%20country
“coal country.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coal%20country. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “coal country,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/coal%20country.
Source: coal country on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.