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.
Wiktionary
n. (context disease English) The chronic disease of the lungs, pneumoconiosis, caused by the long-term inhalation of coal dust.
WordNet
n. lung disease caused by inhaling coal dust [syn: anthracosis, black lung disease, coal miner's lung]
Wikipedia
Black lung can mean several things:
- Black lung disease, the common name for coalworker's pneumoconiosis
- Black Lung, an electronic and industrial music project by Australian musician David Thrussell
- Black Lungs, a side project of Alexisonfire guitarist, Wade MacNeil
Usage examples of "black lung".
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.
If someone put out a brand called ShitonaStick or Black Lung, Vinnie would smoke them.
In '83, when the federal black lung office in Parkersburg got in touch with Ma and told her that Pa had died in Florida and she was entitled to widow's benefits, we came up to Grantville.
He, too, had spent so much time in the country's coal mines, he developed black lung disease.