mining

[mahy-ning] /ˈmaɪ nɪŋ/
noun
1.
the act, process, or industry of extracting ores, coal, etc., from mines.
2.
the laying of explosive mines.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English: undermining (walls in an attack); see mine2, -ing1

mine2

[mahyn] /maɪn/
noun
1.
an excavation made in the earth for the purpose of extracting ores, coal, precious stones, etc.
2.
a place where such minerals may be obtained, either by excavation or by washing the soil.
3.
a natural deposit of such minerals.
4.
an abundant source; store:
a mine of information.
5.
a device containing a charge of explosive in a watertight casing, floating on or moored beneath the surface of the water for the purpose of blowing up an enemy ship that strikes it or passes close by it.
6.
a similar device used on land against personnel or vehicles; land mine.
7.
a subterranean passage made to extend under an enemy's works or position, as for the purpose of securing access or of depositing explosives for blowing up a military position.
8.
a passageway in the parenchyma of a leaf, made by certain insects.
verb (used without object), mined, mining.
9.
to dig in the earth for the purpose of extracting ores, coal, etc.; make a mine.
10.
to extract coal, ore, or the like, from a mine.
11.
to make subterranean passages.
12.
to place or lay mines, as in military or naval operations.
verb (used with object), mined, mining.
13.
to dig in (earth, rock, etc.) in order to obtain ores, coal, etc.
14.
to extract (ore, coal, etc.) from a mine.
15.
to avail oneself of or draw useful or valuable material from:
to mine every reference book available in writing the term paper.
16.
to use, especially a natural resource:
to mine the nation's forests.
17.
to make subterranean passages in or under; burrow.
18.
to make (passages, tunnels, etc.) by digging or burrowing.
19.
to dig away or remove the foundations of.
20.
to place or lay military or naval mines under:
to mine an enemy supply road.
21.
Agriculture. to grow crops in (soil) over an extended time without fertilizing.
22.
to remove (a natural resource) from its source without attempting to replenish it.
Origin
1275-1325; 1875-80 for def 5; (v.) Middle English minen < Old French miner (cognate with Provençal, Spanish minar, Italian minare) < Vulgar Latin *mīnāre, probably < a Celtic base *mein-; compare MIr méin, Welsh mwyn ore, mineral; (noun) Middle English < Middle French, perhaps noun derivative of miner; compare Medieval Latin mina mine, mineral
Related forms
unmined, adjective
Synonyms
4. supply, stock, fund, hoard.
Examples from the web for mining
  • Educators are mining student data to help forecast and improve their success.
  • But to get off the highway and into historic mining towns.
  • Data mining may prove a useful device in our longstanding effort to understand our cultural inheritance.
  • The point of mining the email messages is to find words within them for targeting particular ads to particular individuals.
  • The economy's strength has largely been due to mining-company exports, such as iron.
  • Especially if your diss is on a fairly obscure topic, people may simply be mining it for the bibliography.
  • Microbes currently are used in mining to help recover metals such as gold, copper and uranium.
  • mining destroys existing working landscape and replaces it with a desolate moonscape.
  • Phosphorus mining has a beneficial side and a disturbing side.
  • mining companies use microbes to recover metals such as gold, copper and uranium.
British Dictionary definitions for mining

mining

/ˈmaɪnɪŋ/
noun
1.
the act, process, or industry of extracting coal, ores, etc, from the earth
2.
(military) the process of laying mines

mine1

/maɪn/
pronoun
1.
something or someone belonging to or associated with me: mine is best
2.
of mine, belonging to or associated with me
determiner
3.
(preceding a vowel) an archaic word for my1 mine eyes, mine host
Word Origin
Old English mīn; compare Old High German, Old Norse mīn, Dutch mijn

mine2

/maɪn/
noun
1.
a system of excavations made for the extraction of minerals, esp coal, ores, or precious stones
2.
any deposit of ore or minerals
3.
a lucrative source or abundant supply: she was a mine of information
4.
a device containing an explosive designed to destroy ships, vehicles, or personnel, usually laid beneath the ground or in water
5.
a tunnel or sap dug to undermine a fortification
6.
a groove or tunnel made by certain insects, esp in a leaf
verb
7.
to dig into (the earth) for (minerals)
8.
to make (a hole, tunnel, etc) by digging or boring
9.
to place explosive mines in position below the surface of (the sea or land)
10.
to undermine (a fortification) by digging mines or saps
11.
another word for undermine
Derived Forms
minable, mineable, adjective
Word Origin
C13: from Old French, probably of Celtic origin; compare Irish mein, Welsh mwyn ore, mine
Word Origin and History for mining
n.

1520s, verbal noun from mine (v.1).

mine

pron.

Old English min "mine, my," (pronoun and adjective), from Proto-Germanic *minaz (cf. Old Frisian, Old Saxon Old High German min, Middle Dutch, Dutch mijn, German mein, Old Norse minn, Gothic meins "my, mine"), from the base of me. Superseded as adjective beginning 13c. by my.

n.

"pit or tunnel in the earth for obtaining metals and minerals," c.1300, from Old French mine "vein, lode; tunnel, shaft; mineral ore; mine" (for coal, tin, etc,), of uncertain origin, probably from a Celtic source (cf. Welsh mwyn, Irish mein "ore, mine"), from Old Celtic *meini-. Italy and Greece were relatively poor in minerals, thus they did not contribute a word for this to English, but there was extensive mining from an early date in Celtic lands (Cornwall, etc.). From c.1400 as "a tunnel under fortifications to overthrow them."

explosive device, by 1850, from mine (v.2).

v.

to dig, c.1300, "to tunnel under fortifications to overthrow them," from mine (n.1) or from Old French miner "to dig, mine; exterminate." From mid-14c. as "to dig in the earth" (for treasure, etc.). Figurative use from mid-14c. Related: Mined; mining.

"lay explosives," 1620s, in reference to old tactic of tunneling under enemy fortifications to blow them up; a specialized sense of mine (v.1) via a sense of "dig under foundations to undermine them" (late 14c.), and miner in this sense is attested from late 13c. Related: Mined; mining.

mining in Science
mine
  (mīn)   
An underground excavation in the Earth from which ore, rock, or minerals can be extracted.
Slang definitions & phrases for mining

mine

Related Terms

run-of-the-mill


mining in the Bible

The process of mining is described in Job 28:1-11. Moses speaks of the mineral wealth of Palestine (Deut. 8:9). Job 28:4 is rightly thus rendered in the Revised Version, "He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn; they are forgotten of the foot [that passeth by]; they hang afar from men, they swing to and fro." These words illustrate ancient mining operations.

Idioms and Phrases with mining

mine

see:
Encyclopedia Article for mining

mine

in military and naval operations, a usually stationary explosive device that is designed to destroy personnel, ships, or vehicles when the latter come in contact with it. Submarine mines have been in use since the mid-19th century; land mines did not become a significant factor in warfare until a hundred years later.

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