salt mine

noun

1. a mine from which salt is excavated.
2. Usually salt mines. a place of habitual confinement and drudgery:

   After two weeks of vacation it will be back to the salt mines for the staff.

Word History and Origins

Origin of salt mine¹

First recorded in 1675–85

Example Sentences

The descent into the chilly salt mine caves is 800 steps down the shafts.

From The Daily Beast

If you wanted work as a slave in a Roman salt mine, there was no need to move to Rome.

From The Daily Beast

By acquiring partially mortgaged bills of exchange (salt mine, treasury bonds).

From Project Gutenberg

Mrs. H. and myself started one day, to drive from New Iberia to the Avery salt mine, some ten miles distant.

From Project Gutenberg

There is nothing like an enchanted palace in any salt mine of the United States, no statues or chapels or chandeliers.

From Project Gutenberg

Among them are a pair of boots and an old broom-head which were left in an old salt mine for fifteen years.

From Project Gutenberg

No one can go down a salt mine without asking, How did this salt come here?

From Project Gutenberg