Word of the Day
31 January 2026
firesetting
The use of fire to soften or crack the working face of a lode, to facilitate excavation; later superseded by the use of explosives.
Why this one
It cost a mine its timber and filled the workings with smoke, so ventilation and fuel supply set the pace of the dig long before drilling did. Gunpowder replaced it because it did the same job of breaking rock in minutes rather than shifts.
In use
You can still see the firesetting on that back: rock's all scorched and spalled, none of it drilled.
Written by our editors to show how the term is used, not a recorded quotation.