miner

American  

[mahy-ner] / ˈmaɪ nər /

noun

• miners
  plural

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.

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miner British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• miners
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of miner

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

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Explanation

Picture a hardhat, a headlamp and a pick, and you are on the right track. A miner is a person who makes a living digging coal, salt, gold, minerals, or other natural resources out of the earth. The root here is the noun mine—not the word that possessive toddlers like to shout, but the one that describes a man-made underground network of tunnels and quarries. Don’t confuse miner with minor (note the “o”). Minor refers to musical intervals, small or trivial things, and people under age 18.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

miner miners

Bevan, the son of a miner, had spent time underground and was all too familiar with the lack of control ordinary people had over their working lives and living conditions.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

The miner shipped 46.8 million metric tons of iron ore in its fiscal first quarter but sold only 42.9 million tons due to the ongoing talks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

An expected rise in copper grades over the remainder of the year helped the miner keep its full-year guidance despite a 5% fall in quarterly output due to snowfall.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

The brokerage lifts its 2026 earnings forecast for the Indonesian miner by 80.8%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

"And I said, `A coal miner? Why did she want a coal miner if she could've had you?' And he said, `Because when he sings . . . even the birds stop to listen.'"

From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Bitcoin miners started turning to AI as mining, the practice of using vast computer power to solve equations to unlock the digital currency, became increasingly costly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

Coal miners used to carry a canary, which in case of a buildup of dangerous gases would die first, giving them time to get out.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

Crypto miners use some of the same kind of physical infrastructure that is used to develop AI.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026

Mark Hopkins and Collis P. Huntington ran a hardware store in Sacramento, at a propitious time and place to supply gold miners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

But mine managers refused to acknowledge that the miners had the right to join a labor union.

From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell

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Related Words

• prospector

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