stope

American  

[stohp] / stoʊp /

noun

1. any excavation made in a mine, especially from a steeply inclined vein, to remove the ore that has been rendered accessible by the shafts and drifts.

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verb (used with or without object)

stoped, stoping

1. to mine or work by stopes.

stope British  

/ stəʊp /

noun

1. a steplike excavation made in a mine to extract ore

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verb

1. to mine (ore, etc) by cutting stopes

Etymology

Origin of stope

1740–50; apparently < Low German stope; see stoop ²

Example Sentences

We need to stope mistaking success for heroism.

From New York Times • Oct. 21, 2017

I was in Thompson's abandoned stope all right,—only Macartney had sealed up the only way I could ever get out!

From The La Chance Mine Mystery by Gage, George W.

I swung myself up on it, mechanically, and felt my feet go through the solid stope wall, into space.

From The La Chance Mine Mystery by Gage, George W.

It was the caved-in stope, the old glory-hole of the Paymaster, and it cut off his last escape.

From Shadow Mountain by Coolidge, Dane

Stull and waste pillars, 121. support with waste reënforcement, 120. -supported stope, 104.

From Principles of Mining Valuation, Organization and Administration by Hoover, Herbert