1. Plural of pitman; workers employed in coal mines or other underground mines.
Usage: chiefly British; historical or regional

Examples

• The pitmen worked long hours underground extracting coal.
• Many pitmen in the region suffered from respiratory diseases.
• The strike united pitmen across several collieries.
• Pitmen were essential to the industrial economy of northern England.
• The documentary followed the lives of retired pitmen in the mining community.