coaling

Pluralcoalings

1. 1
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act of supplying a ship or steam locomotive with coal as fuel.

   Like refueling a car, but the fuel is shoveled in by hand and measured in tons.

   The coaling of the cruiser was a filthy, exhausting job for the whole crew.

   Each coaling at the depot loaded several tons into the locomotive's tender.

   Similarbunkering

   Note

   On the railways it traveled with watering, since a steam engine needed both. The Railway Magazine in 1942 describes a locomotive whose only breaks from steam were "brief intervals for watering and coaling." The noun counts, so separate stops can be called coalings. For ships, the same job also goes by bunkering, which is a useful synonym when the vessel, not the engine, is in view.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of coal.

   Sailors spent the entire shore leave coaling the battleship by hand.

   The depot workers were coaling the express engine when the whistle blew.

   Note

   One form, two directions. A ship can be coaling on its own, taking on fuel, or a crew can be coaling the ship, supplying it. The same -ing form also carries the charcoal senses of the verb: wood coaling as it chars, or an artist coaling an outline. Used as a gerund, it shades into the noun for refueling, which can even take a plural, coalings.

   The steamer lay in the harbor for two days, coaling for the long crossing.

   The woodsmen kept the pile smoldering for days while the timber was coaling.

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