mine Hear it!

mine¹ Definition

mine (mīn)

that or those belonging to me: the possessive form of I, used without a following noun, often after of that book is mine; mine are better; he is a friend of mine

Etymology: ME min < OE, gen. sing of ic, I, akin to Ger mein: for base see me

Archaic my: used before a word beginning with a vowel or the letter h[mine eyes, mine honor]; also used after a noun in direct address daughter mine

mine² Definition

mine (mīn)

noun

    1. a large excavation made in the earth, from which to extract metallic ores, coal, precious stones, salt, or certain other minerals
    2. the surface buildings, shafts, elevators, etc. of such an excavation
    3. a deposit of ore, coal, etc.
  2. any great source of supply a mine of information
  3. a kind of fireworks device that explodes in the air and scatters a number of smaller fireworks
  4. Mil.
    1. a tunnel dug under an enemy's trench, fort, etc., esp. one in which an explosive is placed to destroy the enemy or its fortifications
    2. an explosive charge in a container, buried in the ground for destroying enemy troops or vehicles on land, or placed in the sea for destroying enemy ships
  5. Zool. the burrow of an insect, esp. of a leaf miner

Etymology: ME < MFr < VL *mina < Celt, as in Ir mein, Welsh mwyn, vein of metal

intransitive verb mined, min′·ing

to dig a mine; specif.,

  1. to dig ores, coal, etc. from the earth
  2. to dig or lay military mines

Etymology: ME minen < OFr miner

transitive verb

    1. to dig in (the earth) for ores, coal, etc.
    2. to dig or remove (ores, coal, etc.) from the earth
  2. to take from (a source)
    1. to dig a tunnel under (an enemy installation)
    2. to place explosive mines in or under
  4. to make hollows under the surface of leaves mined by larvae
  5. to undermine or ruin slowly by secret methods, plotting, etc.

mine Synonyms

mine

modif.

my own, belonging to me, possessed by me, mine by right, owned by me, left to me, from me, by me; see also our.

mine Synonyms

mine

n.

  1. A source of natural wealth

    pit, well, shaft, diggings, excavation, adit, workings, works, quarry, deposit, vein, lode, dike, ore bed, placer, matrix, pay dirt*, pay streak*, bonanza*; see also tunnel.

    Types of mines, sense 1, include: placer, surface, open pit, dredging, open cut, strip; quartz, coal, iron, copper, silver, gold, diamond, underhand stope, bottom stope, overhand stope, top stope, rill stope, opencast stope, shrinkage stope.

  2. An explosive charge

    landmine, ambush, trap; see bomb, explosive, weapon 1.

    Types of mines, sense 2, include: smart, floating, anchor, ratchet, magnetic, aerial, antipersonnel, castrator*, Bouncing Betty*, Leaping Lena*; S-mine, Teller (German), claymore, countermine, delayed action mine, time bomb, booby trap.

mine Synonyms

mine

v.

  1. To dig for minerals

    excavate, burrow, pan, stope, drill, work, quarry, wash for gold; see also dig 1.

  2. To lay mines

    sow with mines, prepare mine fields, set booby traps; see defend 1.

mine Usage Examples

Object

ore: Both Leadhills and Wanlockhead mined lead ore, primarily, galena ( lead sulfide ).

Converse of object

  • abandon: In Ukraine, we follow a group of miners so desperate for work that they've taken over an abandoned mine for themselves.
  • detonate: Engineers were given the task of tunneling underneath the enemy trench, with the intention of then detonating mines directly underneath the front line.
  • explode: Shipped out to Vietnam to serve on a river patrol vessel he was hospitalized by an exploding mine.

Converse of subject

sink: Britain's greatest soldier, Lord Kitchener, died on the cruiser HMS Hampshire, sunk by mines off Orkney's west coast in 1916.

Adjective modifier

  • anti-personnel: Land mines We would support a ban on all anti-personnel land mines.
  • disused: In more recent years the village was an important lead mining center and Carsington Pasture is still littered with disused lead mines.
  • gold: In addition, the appendix is a gold mine of information.
  • magnetic: Sub-Lieutenant Babington had experimented with the dismantling of all types of bombs and had worked on the first suspended parachute magnetic mines.
  • underground: IMC assisted in the development of safety plans and risk assessments for a new underground coal mine in Queensland.

Modifies a noun

  • shaft: He was located 40 ' down a mine shaft having spent 10 hours there.
  • clearance: Graham Goldsworthy, a former British Army officer, now works on land mine clearance in Central America.
  • working: Key to the scheme was the remediation of old mine workings to enable the bypass to cross the redeveloped areas.
  • eye: How would ( I say ) mine eyes be blessed made, By looking on thee in the liuing day?

Noun used with modifier

  • coal: Go to TOP Coal mines The coal mining area is in the center of the basin.
  • copper: The tin and copper mines were booming and a new industry china clay grew out of nothing.
  • tin: Mines varied in size from the smaller tin mines employing under fifty to the large copper mines employing over a thousand.
  • gold: I live in Chester and on the outskirts there is a little gold mine just waiting to be opened on an A road.
  • parachute: Disposed of parachute mine on land in a minefield at Mersa Matruh, Egypt in Sep 43.
  • ore: In England on one occasion in a little town where there were iron and ore mines, they would pile up the slag.