A type of hard, fine-grained rock or mineral used in making bricks and refractory materials for furnaces.
Origin disputed; possibly from a place name or geological term. The word appeared in English mining vocabulary in the 18th-19th centuries, likely from industrial usage in Yorkshire and Lancashire regions of England.
Gannister is so heat-resistant that it was the secret ingredient in furnaces for smelting steel and glass-making—it could literally withstand temperatures that would melt most other materials, making it worth more than gold to industrial manufacturers.
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