A geological feature where an ancient stream eroded a channel through a peat bog or mineral deposit before it fully lithified, later filling it with sand or mud. In underground coal mining, encountering a washout means the seam abruptly ends in solid rock. Miners must then drill and blast through the barren zone to pick up the coal on the other side.
Heard on the job
The longwall face is going to be down for weeks because we drove right into a massive sandstone washout.
Also heard as
- want