miner

American  

[mahy-ner] / ˈmaɪ nər /

noun

1. Also called mineworker.  a person who works in a mine, especially a commercial mine producing coal or metallic ores.

   His ancestors were slate miners in Wales who emigrated to the United States.

2. a mechanical device used in mining.

   She made her money by developing a miner for extracting ores from the ocean floor.

3. any of several Australian birds of the genus Manorina, feeding on honey and typically having a loud call.

4. Entomology. any of various insect larvae that create tunnels in the parenchyma of leaves.

5. Digital Technology.

   1. a computer or network of computers engaged in solving sets of mathematical problems that are used to verify cryptocurrency transactions and that, when solved, yield a unit of the currency.

   2. a software application that is designed to run this process.

   3. a person or company that engages in this process.

6. (formerly) a person who places or lays explosive mines.

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miner British  

/ ˈmaɪnə /

noun

1. a person who works in a mine

2. Also called: continuous miner.  a large machine for the automatic extraction of minerals, esp coal, from a mine

3. any of various insects or insect larvae that bore into and feed on plant tissues See also leaf miner

4. any of several honey-eaters of the genus Manorina, esp M. melanocephala (noisy miner), of scrub regions See noisy miner

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Etymology

Origin of miner

First recorded in 1225–75; mine ² + -er ¹; replacing Middle English minour, from Anglo-French ( -or ² )

Example Sentences

The Canadian company, which started as a Bitcoin miner, has now seen its stock price more than double in 2025.

From Barron's

Meanwhile, TeraWulf has pivoted from being a bitcoin miner into being a provider of compute capacity for AI players.

From MarketWatch

Henderson grew up in a family of coal miners about 130 miles away.

From The Wall Street Journal

DataTrek did find five instances where gold miners seriously beat gold—outperforming by 30 percentage points or more over the 100-day window—including one instance earlier this year, that wrapped up around Sept. 15.

From Barron's

The ratio of tech stocks to gold miners just reversed a decade-long trend.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• prospector