countermine
Americannoun
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Military. a mine intended to intercept or destroy an enemy mine.
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a counterplot.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to make a countermine.
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Military. to intercept or destroy enemy mines.
noun
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military a tunnel dug to defeat similar activities by an enemy
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a plot to frustrate another plot
verb
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to frustrate by countermeasures
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military to take measures to defeat the underground operations of (an enemy)
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military to destroy enemy mines in (an area) with mines of one's own
Etymology
Origin of countermine
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at counter-, mine 2
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.
See Examples For:
A U.S. defense official said the military was using a combination of manned and unmanned capabilities in the countermine operation, but declined to comment on operational specifics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
Navy’s countermine capabilities as it retires traditional minesweepers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
Extremely few flag officers ever served as countermine officers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
Called the AQS-24, the technology merges sonar with laser mine scanning and human command and control to sustain high-resolution countermine sensing and identification at speeds as fast as 18-knots.
From Fox News ● Feb. 28, 2020
Prince Waldemar was at the head of the countermine, and he was one of the cleverest, most astute men "on 'change."
From Black Diamonds by Jókai, Mór
For it was clear, was it not, that her mines must be countermined for her own sake and that of her belongings?
From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. I (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Wingfield, Lewis
The deep mines of sin and of alienation are all undermined and countermined by His love.
From Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians; Epistles of St. Peter and St. John by Maclaren, Alexander
But he had to deal with a shrewd opponent; and while he took his measures for a combined attack from the besieged and the relieving army, Ferdinand intercepted his messages and countermined his plans.
From The Moors in Spain by Lane-Poole, Stanley
The mine was countermined; but the continual labour to which the besieged were subjected became insupportable, and they were utterly unable to repair the many breaches in their works.
But while Pitt sapped the approaches to the citadel, Loughborough countermined him.
From William Pitt and the Great War by Rose, John Holland
And many a U.S. diplomat, busily countermining the British, worries more about them than he does about the Russians.
From Time Magazine Archive
Whilst they played wits against me—against me who commanded nations, and intrigued for them, and fought for them, hundreds of years before they were born—I was countermining them.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
The Apothecary is perpetually employed in countermining the Cook and the Vintner.
From The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Addison, Joseph
Parallels and approaches were constructed; mines sunk and countermining done.
From The Greater Republic A History of the United States by Morris, Charles
Whilst they played wits against me, against me who commanded nations, and intrigued for them, and fought for them, hundreds of years before they were born, I was countermining them.
From Dracula by Stoker, Bram
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.
