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.
Recent trade tensions have made investors more starkly aware of China’s monopoly on mining rare earth minerals.
From Barron's • May 19, 2026
Growing up working-class in a mining village in Nottinghamshire, Graham recalls how important access to the arts were to him as a "shy" kid who found even the prospect of PE "nerve-wracking".
From BBC • May 18, 2026
CoreWeave started out in cryptocurrency mining, then pivoted to computing for video production during the pandemic, and then shifted focus to AI.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
Fitrat also points to Taliban plans "to reduce poverty and create jobs by implementing major economic projects", naming a few infrastructure and mining projects.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
“I’m only saying,” said Gregory Powell, patiently, as one explaining electronics to an idiot child, “that according to spec, those robots are equipped for asteroid mining without supervision. We’re not supposed to watch them.”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
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.
