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

Much of the choreography was figured out on set, often in a real salt mine.

From Los Angeles Times

The Monuments Men and Women Gallery includes a recreation of a salt mine where monuments officers found stolen art.

From Seattle Times

PHOTOS: Petrochemical giant's salt mine ruptures in northeastern Brazil.

From Washington Times

Representative Clay Higgins, Republican of Louisiana, took aim at a single federal inspector responsible for regulating safety standards at a salt mine in his district, who the congressman said had a “personal vendetta.”

From New York Times

Nearby is a simulated salt mine, its craggy walls lined with images of centuries-old paintings and crates of statuary — representing works of art plundered by the Germans and recovered after the war.

From Seattle Times