Meaning & use
pithead
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Meanings
nouncountableBritishtechnical
the area at the top of a mine shaft, where coal is brought up and workers enter.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a pithead' or 'the pitheads'.
Patterns
- at the pithead
- the pithead buildings
The miners gathered at the pithead before their shift.
Coal was lifted to the pithead and loaded onto trucks.
The old pithead is now a museum.
nouncountableBritishtechnical
the surface buildings and equipment of a coal mine.
Grammar: Often used before another noun, as in 'pithead gear' or 'pithead baths'.
Patterns
- pithead gear
- pithead baths
- the pithead winding gear
The pithead winding gear still stands as a monument.
Workers washed in the pithead baths after coming up.
The pithead was closed when the mine shut down.
Word forms
| plural | pitheads |
|---|
Common combinations
- at the pithead
- Families waited at the pithead for news.
- pithead gear
- The pithead gear was painted black.
- pithead baths
- The pithead baths gave miners a place to wash.
- the pithead winding gear
- The pithead winding gear is a listed structure.
Synonyms and how they differ
- minehead
- A more general term used in both American and British English for the surface entrance of a mine.
- colliery
- Refers to the whole coal mine and its buildings, not just the top of the shaft.
Word family
Commonly confused: pithead or pithead?
pithead vs pithead
Do not confuse with 'pit head', which can mean the top of any pit; the single word usually refers to a coal mine.
Practice
What does 'pithead' mean?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 is correct because the pithead is the surface area at the top of the shaft. Option 1 describes the pit bottom, option 2 describes a drill or cutter, and option 3 is a material, not a place.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pithead”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.