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:
Navy’s countermine capabilities as it retires traditional minesweepers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
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
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
In that way the lonely hermit put his foot down and began a countermine, working as silently as possible.
From The Book of the Bush Containing Many Truthful Sketches Of The Early Colonial Life Of Squatters, Whalers, Convicts, Diggers, And Others Who Left Their Native Land And Never Returned by Macfarlane, J.
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
Perhaps she fancied she had countermined her opponents, and so felt secure.
From The Star-Chamber, Volume 1 An Historical Romance by Ainsworth, William Harrison
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
They mined and countermined, until the whole area had been honeycombed.
From A Breeze from the Woods, 2nd Ed. by Bartlett, William Chauncey
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
No explosion took place, however, and after our countermining work was completed, the garrison became reassured and remained in the fort at night as well as in day time.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 841, February 13, 1892 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 Moore, John Hamilton
In May, 1788, a Russian Envoy arrived and began countermining Austria.
From Twenty Years Of Balkan Tangle by Durham, M. E. (Mary Edith)
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.
