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Glite Dictionary
🪖 Something worn on head 🦷 Dental device 🐴 Horse harness parts ⛏️ Mining framework
headgear

headgear

1 9.2
The frame above a mine shaft that holds equipment used to lift ore or people
  • noun
  • /ˈhɛdˌɡɪr/
  • UK
translation icon : castillete

Examples

  • Powder, fuses, lamps, headgear, all appropriate clothing will be available at the company store, and Stone Mountain will generously advance you a month's supply of these items, payment to be deducted.

    Matewan (1987)

  • Holding the panel steady, Cahill lowers his head, using the light on his headgear to scan between the two levels, the second level consisting of a series of relays and a softball-sized stainless steel sphere.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The miners adjusted the headgear to improve the efficiency of the ore extraction process.

  • Before starting the work shift, the crew inspected the headgear to ensure it was functioning properly.

  • At the entrance of the mine, the headgear loomed above, ready to hoist workers and materials underground.

Synonyms

headframe
vsheadgear
  • Specialized
8.4

A tall structure above a mine shaft that holds equipment to lift people and materials

focuses on the complete framework and hoisting gear used to raise ore and workers

Surface Forms

headgear singular
headgears plural

Morphology

headgear = head + gear (semi-transparent) = head + gear

The components suggest 'equipment at the head', but the sense refers to a specific mining structure and hoisting apparatus that is technical and may not be inferable by all learners.

Etymology

Headgear in mining also comes from head + gear, but here head means the 'top' and gear means 'machinery'. So the mine's headgear is the machinery at the top of the shaft used to lift ore and people.