The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Basin \Ba"sin\, n. [OF. bacin, F. bassin, LL. bacchinus, fr.
   bacca a water vessel, fr. L. bacca berry, in allusion to the
   round shape; or perh. fr. Celtic. Cf. Bac.]
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   1. A hollow vessel or dish, to hold water for washing, and
      for various other uses.
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   2. The quantity contained in a basin.
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   3. A hollow vessel, of various forms and materials, used in
      the arts or manufactures, as that used by glass grinders
      for forming concave glasses, by hatters for molding a hat
      into shape, etc.
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   4. A hollow place containing water, as a pond, a dock for
      ships, a little bay. --Pope
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   5. (Physical Geog.)
      (a) A circular or oval valley, or depression of the
          surface of the ground, the lowest part of which is
          generally occupied by a lake, or traversed by a river.
      (b) The entire tract of country drained by a river, or
          sloping towards a sea or lake.
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   6. (Geol.) An isolated or circumscribed formation,
      particularly where the strata dip inward, on all sides,
      toward a center; -- especially applied to the coal
      formations, called coal basins or coal fields.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Coal \Coal\ (k[=o]l), n. [AS. col; akin to D. kool, OHG. chol,
   cholo, G. kohle, Icel. kol, pl., Sw. kol, Dan. kul; cf. Skr.
   jval to burn. Cf. Kiln, Collier.]
   1. A thoroughly charred, and extinguished or still ignited,
      fragment from wood or other combustible substance;
      charcoal.
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   2. (Min.) A black, or brownish black, solid, combustible
      substance, dug from beds or veins in the earth to be used
      for fuel, and consisting, like charcoal, mainly of carbon,
      but more compact, and often affording, when heated, a
      large amount of volatile matter.
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   Note: This word is often used adjectively, or as the first
         part of self-explaining compounds; as, coal-black; coal
         formation; coal scuttle; coal ship. etc.
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   Note: In England the plural coals is used, for the broken
         mineral coal burned in grates, etc.; as, to put coals
         on the fire. In the United States the singular in a
         collective sense is the customary usage; as, a hod of
         coal.
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   Age of coal plants. See Age of Acrogens, under Acrogen.


   Anthracite or Glance coal. See Anthracite.

   Bituminous coal. See under Bituminous.

   Blind coal. See under Blind.

   Brown coal or Brown Lignite. See Lignite.

   Caking coal, a bituminous coal, which softens and becomes
      pasty or semi-viscid when heated. On increasing the heat,
      the volatile products are driven off, and a coherent,
      grayish black, cellular mass of coke is left.

   Cannel coal, a very compact bituminous coal, of fine
      texture and dull luster. See Cannel coal.

   Coal bed (Geol.), a layer or stratum of mineral coal.

   Coal breaker, a structure including machines and machinery
      adapted for crushing, cleansing, and assorting coal.

   Coal field (Geol.), a region in which deposits of coal
      occur. Such regions have often a basinlike structure, and
      are hence called coal basins. See Basin.

   Coal gas, a variety of carbureted hydrogen, procured from
      bituminous coal, used in lighting streets, houses, etc.,
      and for cooking and heating.

   Coal heaver, a man employed in carrying coal, and esp. in
      putting it in, and discharging it from, ships.

   Coal measures. (Geol.)
      (a) Strata of coal with the attendant rocks.
      (b) A subdivision of the carboniferous formation, between
          the millstone grit below and the Permian formation
          above, and including nearly all the workable coal beds
          of the world.

   Coal oil, a general name for mineral oils; petroleum.

   Coal plant (Geol.), one of the remains or impressions of
      plants found in the strata of the coal formation.

   Coal tar. See in the Vocabulary.

   To haul over the coals, to call to account; to scold or
      censure. [Colloq.]

   Wood coal. See Lignite.
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