mining
Americannoun
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the act, process, or industry of extracting ores, coal, etc., from mines.
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the laying of explosive mines.
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Digital Technology. the act or process by which cryptocurrency transactions, especially bitcoin, are verified and new cryptocurrency is generated: computer networks are used to solve sets of mathematical problems, that, when solved, yield a unit of that currency.
noun
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the act, process, or industry of extracting coal, ores, etc, from the earth
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military the process of laying mines
Etymology
Origin of mining
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English: “undermining (walls in an attack)”; mine 2 + -ing 1
Explanation
The process of removing something valuable from underground is mining. In order for coal to be used as fuel, it has to first be extracted from sedimentary rock through mining. Mining is used to extract minerals, gemstones, oil, gas, and any other materials that are useful or valuable enough to make the process worthwhile. Digging up substances from the earth is always tedious and sometimes dangerous. Coal mining is notoriously unhealthy for its workers, and surface mining involves blasting rocks with explosives to extract precious metals. You can think of mining as a kind of underground tunneling, from the verb mine, "to dig a tunnel."
Vocabulary lists containing mining
The United States
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Africa - Introductory
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South America - Middle School
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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.
The mining company said it has identified what it believes is the optimal structure for a separate listing of the assets, including a primary listing in New York and a secondary listing in Toronto.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
Archaeologists have uncovered six previously unknown Bronze Age mining sites in Extremadura in southwestern Spain.
From Science Daily • Apr. 29, 2026
Anaconda offers funds — not open to U.S. investors — aimed at that transition, through electrification, metals and mining and oil and gas.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 29, 2026
Given the continuing geopolitical concerns, high mining profits should continue.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
He answered questions about mining, and silly Tarzan questions about witch doctors and wild animals.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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.
