miner

[mahy-ner]

noun

1. Also called mineworker. a person who works in a mine, especially a commercial mine producing coal or metallic ores.

   His ancestors were slate miners in Wales who emigrated to the United States.

2. a mechanical device used in mining.

   She made her money by developing a miner for extracting ores from the ocean floor.

3. any of several Australian birds of the genus Manorina, feeding on honey and typically having a loud call.

4. Entomology.,  any of various insect larvae that create tunnels in the parenchyma of leaves.

5. Digital Technology.

   1. a computer or network of computers engaged in solving sets of mathematical problems that are used to verify cryptocurrency transactions and that, when solved, yield a unit of the currency.

   2. a software application that is designed to run this process.

   3. a person or company that engages in this process.

6. (formerly) a person who places or lays explosive mines.

miner

/ ˈmaɪnə /

noun

1. a person who works in a mine

2. Also called: continuous miner. a large machine for the automatic extraction of minerals, esp coal, from a mine

3. any of various insects or insect larvae that bore into and feed on plant tissues See also leaf miner

4. any of several honey-eaters of the genus Manorina, esp M. melanocephala (noisy miner), of scrub regions See noisy miner

Word History and Origins

Origin of miner¹

First recorded in 1225–75; mine ² + -er ¹; replacing Middle English minour, from Anglo-French ( -or ² )

Example Sentences

His father was a coal miner, but those jobs, he said, are scarcer and less stable than before.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Lithium miners have benefited from Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology halting production at one of its mines earlier this year, which reduced supply and stabilized prices.

Read more on Barron's

That holding has stopped the miner from buying back shares due to an Australian government-imposed cap on the state-owned Chinese company’s interest.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

At his press conference this week, Hichilema accused illegal artisanal miners of being behind the violence as his government was trying to crack down on this unregistered work.

Read more on BBC

The China-backed miner derives 74% of its total revenue as of 2024 from the metal and is increasing its copper assets, making it an ideal proxy to copper markets, she says.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• prospector