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  • open-cut
    open-cut
    adjective
    noting or pertaining to a type of surface mining in which coal and other flat-lying mineral deposits are removed by the excavation of long, narrow trenches.
  • open cut
    open cut
    noun
    civil engineering an excavation made in the open rather than in a tunnel See cut-and-cover

open-cut

American  
[oh-puhn-kuht] / ˈoʊ pənˌkʌt /

adjective

Mining.
  1. noting or pertaining to a type of surface mining in which coal and other flat-lying mineral deposits are removed by the excavation of long, narrow trenches.


open cut British  

noun

  1. civil engineering an excavation made in the open rather than in a tunnel See cut-and-cover

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of open-cut

First recorded in 1880–85

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:

Minister Plibersek's department agreed, finding sediment and run off from the open-cut mine was likely to damage the Reef and local water resources.

From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2023

He also helped last year to persuade a judge to recommend against a new open-cut coal project in Queensland state.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 31, 2023

A road leads to an open-cut mine in the area known as the Pilbara region located in the north-west of Western Australia, September 5, 2016.

From Reuters ● Aug. 13, 2021

Ore mined by an open-cut method was first shipped in 1925, and in the late 1930s mine owner Universal Insulation Co. merged with Zonolite co. and the mine adopted the Zonolite name.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 1, 2019

The material above the rock in the open-cut sections was mostly sand.

From Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910 The New York Tunnel Extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Cross-Town Tunnels. Paper No. 1158 by James H. Brace

With inoculation, pus from an infected person was gathered, either in a small vial or by passing a string through one of the sores, and then passed through an open cut in a healthy subject.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 29, 2021

An infection can occur if bacteria from the soil enters the body through an open cut or a break in the skin.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 1, 2021

From the outside, the five-story building on Carlton Way near the open cut of the 101 looks like any other upscale new construction — sans serif font, little balconies, black-painted steel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2020

The case also illustrates how even people in close contact with victims do not necessarily get the disease, which spreads when infectious fluids get into an open cut, or a nose, eye or mouth.

From New York Times ● Nov. 10, 2014

Then place the pan and turf at sunset in the open cut.

From Meteorology or Weather Explained by J. G. M'Pherson

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