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
It's a little idea of my own to countermine the widow.
From The Lady of the Ice A Novel by James De Mille
I fear, Mr. Editor, the grand conspiracy is in danger of being countermined and counteracted, by those all-pervading and indefatigable Yankees.
From Wolfert's Roost and Miscellanies by Washington Irving
But I soon perceived that the ambassador had countermined me.
From Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini by John Addington Symonds
But the king, who was not to be easily deceived, had countermined all Wallenstein's designs.
From Memoirs of a Cavalier A Military Journal of the Wars in Germany, and the Wars in England. From the Year 1632 to the Year 1648. by Daniel Defoe
"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 Charles Reade
He has countermined me; blown up my works!
From Anna St. Ives by Thomas Holcroft
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 art of countermining, and of counteracting the danger of mines exploding, was then very imperfectly understood, though that of besieging above ground had been brought to the very highest degree of perfection.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 369, July 1846 by Various
The apothecary is perpetually employed in countermining the cook and the vintner.
From The Young Gentleman and Lady's Monitor, and English Teacher's Assistant by John Hamilton Moore
On the other hand, the official police were helped for a time by zealous loyalists, who formed a "Holy Band" for secretly countermining the Nihilist organisation.
From The Development of the European Nations, 1870-1914 (5th ed.) by John Holland Rose
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