- present participle of mine.
mining
Americannoun
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the act, process, or industry of extracting ores, coal, etc., from mines.
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the laying of explosive mines.
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Digital Technology. the act or process by which cryptocurrency transactions, especially bitcoin, are verified and new cryptocurrency is generated: computer networks are used to solve sets of mathematical problems, that, when solved, yield a unit of that currency.
noun
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the act, process, or industry of extracting coal, ores, etc, from the earth
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military the process of laying mines
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mining
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English: “undermining (walls in an attack)”; mine 2 + -ing 1
Explanation
The process of removing something valuable from underground is mining. In order for coal to be used as fuel, it has to first be extracted from sedimentary rock through mining. Mining is used to extract minerals, gemstones, oil, gas, and any other materials that are useful or valuable enough to make the process worthwhile. Digging up substances from the earth is always tedious and sometimes dangerous. Coal mining is notoriously unhealthy for its workers, and surface mining involves blasting rocks with explosives to extract precious metals. You can think of mining as a kind of underground tunneling, from the verb mine, "to dig a tunnel."
Vocabulary lists containing mining
The United States
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Africa - Introductory
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South America - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Three separate mining companies controlled by Kalima - Bugambira Mines, Wolfram Mining and Processing and Rwinkwavu Mining Corporation - were also sanctioned by the US on Thursday.
From BBC • Jun. 26, 2026
Mining disruptions, especially in highly concentrated upstream regions, frequently act as the initial source of risk.
From Science Daily • Jun. 20, 2026
BofA’s top pick is Zijin Mining, the largest copper producer in China, given the bank’s positive view on copper prices and the company’s volume growth.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 17, 2026
The Tonopah Historic Mining Park is a big tourist attraction, along with the Clown Motel and other lodging establishments supposedly haunted by the ghosts of dead miners and other paranormal phenomena.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2026
Mining families scratched out a living any way they could, with the union providing strike pay from dues paid by members in other parts of the country.
From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
