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.
The site is jointly operated by global mining giant Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting, and last year tipped A$832m into Rinehart's company's coffers.
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
Australia's wealthiest person Gina Rinehart must part with some of her riches, a court has ruled in a high-profile dispute over her mining empire.
From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026
It suggests “a more pragmatic and execution-focused phase of international growth for China’s mining industry.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026
WSJ asked five technology experts to predict one great innovation they think we’ll see in the coming decades, and their answers ranged from mind-controlled devices to space mining.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026
When a topic—especially one that happened outside Coalwood and also didn’t involve mining or football—reached the steps, you knew it was important.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
