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
The growing modern mine threat is so significant, that the Navy has been fast-tracking a wide range of new countermine attack and defense strategies.
From Fox News ● Feb. 28, 2020
I know you did this mutiny design; But I'll your love-plot quickly countermine.
From The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 04 by Scott, Walter, Sir
Israel soon discovered, that though rejoiced to welcome the return of the prodigal son—so some called him—his father still remained inflexibly determined against the match, and still inexplicably countermined his wooing.
From Israel Potter by Melville, Herman
But while Pitt sapped the approaches to the citadel, Loughborough countermined him.
From William Pitt and the Great War by Rose, John Holland
I thought to take her by surprise at that very point, and right there she has countermined.
From The Cavalier by Cable, George Washington
Sedition has, at last, countermined itself, and conspiracy we have seen in effect perishing by its own excesses.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 54, No. 337, November, 1843 by Various
"Wait here an hour for me," he whispered; "I must see who liberates him, and whether he is really as innocent as he reads, or we have been countermined by the devil's own tutor."
From Hard Cash by Reade, Charles
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
In expectation of HIS fate, I have been countermining with Szekuly, and his foolish old hands have flung up shovelfuls of gold as we went along—bright, shining ducats, which shall go with me to Paris.
From Joseph II. and His Court by Mühlbach, L. (Luise)
On sentry in the firebay, or the hov'ring 'plane, Mining and countermining yet again.
From Over the Top With the Third Australian Division by McBeath, Neil
Having imparted this discovery to his friend Hatchway, they came to a resolution of countermining the plan of their enemies.
From The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Smollett, T. (Tobias)
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.
