The Collaborative International Dictionary
black lung \black lung\ black lung disease \black lung disease\, n. (Med.) the popular name for a form of the chronic lung disease pneumoconiosis which is observed among coal miners, and is caused by the inhalation of coal dust. It is thus named because of the black appearance of the lungs ( pneumomelanosis) of those affected with the disease. See also the related condition anthracosis.
WordNet
n. lung disease caused by inhaling coal dust [syn: anthracosis, black lung, coal miner's lung]
Usage examples of "black lung disease".
The available statistics count the obvious cases like the 100,000 miners who have black lung disease, of whom 4,000 die every year, a much higher fatality rate than for AIDS, for instance, which gets so much media attention.
He, too, had spent so much time in the country's coal mines, he developed black lung disease.
He actually opposed the extension of benefits for black lung disease&mdash.