Definition of "firedamp" [firedamp]

• A combustible gas, chiefly methane, occurring naturally in mines from the decomposition of coal. (noun)
• The explosive mixture of firedamp and air. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A continuous struggle against the dangers of landslips, fires, inundations, explosions of firedamp, like claps of thunder."
• "When the firedamp had accumulated in the air, so as to form a detonating mixture, the explosion occurred without being fatal, and, by often renewing this operation, catastrophes were prevented."
• "As they had expected, there was no explosion, but, what was more serious, there was not even the slight crackling which indicates the presence of a small quantity of firedamp."