Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Chiefly British A truck, tub, or basket used in a mine.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In coal-mining, a box in which coals are conveyed from the working place to the shaft. This was formerly done in wicker baskets, whence the name. Also cauf.
- n. A local English measure of coal. In Durham it is 4 bushels, or 3¼ hundredweight; in Derbyshire, 2¼ level bushels, or 2 hundredweight.
- n. Also corve.
- n. A small mine-car of wood or iron.
Wiktionary
- n. mining A large basket, especially as used for coal.
- n. A basket used to contain live fish underwater.
- n. mining A wooden frame, sled, or low-wheeled wagon, to convey coal or ore in the mines.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A basket.
- n. A large basket used in carrying or hoisting coal or ore.
- n. A wooden frame, sled, or low-wheeled wagon, to convey coal or ore in the mines.
Etymologies
- Via Middle Low German korf or Middle Dutch korf, from Latin corbis ‘basket’. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, basket, from Middle Dutch corf or Middle Low German korf, both probably from Latin corbis. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“[Footnote 1: A corf is a large basket used for carrying coals or other minerals in a mine.]”
“Or perhaps a half-corf, such as this wee one is carrying.”
“You weigh a good deal less than a corf full of coal," he said with a smile.”
“She was barefoot and carried on her back a corf half full of coal.”
“The miner stopped the girl and one of his women lifted the corf.”
“The miner, seemingly expecting this, caught her, and she felt the weight lifted from her back as the woman removed the corf.”
“Although her child was only a week or so old, the poor woman was carrying a full corf.”
“Jen lifted Wullie and slung him over her shoulder: his weight was nothing to a woman who could carry a full corf of coal up these stairs twenty times in a fifteen-hour shift.”
“All they could suggest was corf sone which my mother took in the form of tablets and injections in her neck.”
“Yes, 'e' as got a corf," said Emily, watching Maggie with all her eyes.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘corf’.
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Coal Mining Terms
Coal mining has engendered fascinating subcultures in industry, labor, music, folklore, environment and energy. It has a rich vocabulary as well, and I've encountered some gorgeous mining words. I...
firedamp, scrip, bituminous, anthracite, company store, blackdamp, brattice, bug dust, tipple, whitedamp, float dust, fly ash and 136 more...
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phrontistery - c
from phrontistery.info
czardas, cytometer, cytology, cytheromania, cystoscope, cystolith, cyrenaic, cypseline, cyprinoid, cyphonism, cynophobia, cytogenesis and 1298 more...
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In the Collieries
A collection of coal mining and colliery terms. Some British, some Scots, and some, Other. Many terms are quite to the point; others colorful and imaginative.
Also see Middlesmith's li...fire-damp, black-damp, choke-damp, skip, basket, gallery, Gregory lamp, pit, balance, balancer, tenter, coupler and 313 more...
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Collage's Words
subtle, calamity, impale, qat, painterly, piebald, surly, nihilistic, repine, slake, larder, sepulchre and 349 more...
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Neology
neology, du jour, monanthous, corf, schuss, cladophyll, laniferous, astatic, dahabeah, vibrissa, resupinate, almandine and 77 more...
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Because I Like Them : C --- D
clawscrunt, comprivigni, dinmont, drizzen, desticate, corf, collop, caboodle, canoodle, curfuffle, cynarctomachy, chionablepsia and 56 more...
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free rice
trepang, wain, stenosis, biltong, ablaut, ostler, gorgerin, qindar, hyson, gynoecium, traduce, blenny and 49 more...
Tweets
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