mine

Less common meanings

7. 7
   rich sourcenounfigurativelycountable

   A plentiful source of wealth, resources, or valuable things.

   The interview proved a mine of insight into the company's early years.

   For collectors, the old attic was a mine of forgotten treasures.

   UsageMostly in a mine of information, as praise.

   Similarwealth, storehouse, fund, fount

   Note

   The figure turns a person or a book into something that yields riches when dug into. Modern Railways in December 1962 called Cook's Continental Guide "always a mine of accurate information." It is a compliment, and it suits sources that reward patient searching. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Modern Railways, December 1962, described Cook's Continental Guide as "always a mine of accurate information." en.wiktionary.org
8. 8
   homepronouncolloquialUK

   My house or home.

   Everyone gathered at mine for the holidays.

   Let's grab a coffee and then head back to mine.

   UsageAfter at, to or back to: round at mine, back to mine.

9. 9
   lay explosivesverbtransitive

   To lay explosive mines in an area, or to damage or destroy something with a mine.

   Retreating forces mined the bridges and the roads leading north.

   Commanders chose to mine the entire valley before dawn.

   Note

   With this verb the object can be an area or structure that receives explosives, such as a road, a bridge or a harbor; an area sown with mines is a minefield. When the object is the ship or vehicle that strikes one, the verb means damage instead, often in the passive: the destroyer was mined. Only context separates the two uses. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • The object can also be water, such as a harbour, or a structure prepared for demolition. army.mil
   • A bridge can be mined for deliberate demolition; this does not necessarily create a minefield. lonesentry.com
10. 10
    crypto rignouncountable

    A computer, or an array of computers, set up to perform the calculations that generate new units of a cryptocurrency and confirm transactions.

    The company turned an empty factory into a bitcoin mine, filling it with rows of humming computers.

    Neighbors complained about the nonstop roar of cooling fans coming from the crypto mine down the road.

    Similarfarm

    Note

    Computing borrowed the whole picture: the coins are the ore, and the hardware that extracts them is the mine. The word names the machine or the network of machines, not a place in the ground. Electricity is its weak point, and some blockchains have changed their rules partly to cut the power such mines draw. The activity itself is the cryptocurrency verb. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Cryptocurrency mining borrows the imagery of extracting valuable minerals. bitcoin.org
    • Mining's energy consumption has prompted changes to blockchain rules, including Ethereum's replacement of mining with staking. ethereum.org
    • FairCoin provides another example of a blockchain changing its consensus mechanism to reduce energy consumption. fair-coin.org
11. 11
    burrowverbintransitive

    To burrow into the ground, making a tunnel or hole.

    Similarburrow, dig, tunnel, bore

12. 12
    nouncountable

    A tunnel dug toward or beneath enemy lines and then packed with explosives.

    For months, soldiers secretly dug a mine beneath the enemy trenches and packed it with explosives.

    The defenders dug counter-tunnels to intercept the enemy's mines.

    Note

    In siege warfare the original mine was a tunnel, not a device. Diggers drove it under the enemy's works and packed the end with explosives. At Petersburg in July 1864, Union troops blew up a mine under the Confederate lines, opening the Battle of the Crater. The digging itself has a verb, to undermine walls, and the self-contained explosive device shares the name. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The military mine was originally an excavation beneath fortifications, preceding the explosive-device sense. english-heritage.org.uk
    • Explosive siege mining involved tunnelling beneath enemy works and placing explosives at the tunnel's end. gutenberg.org
    • Union troops exploded a tunnel mine beneath Confederate positions at Petersburg in July 1864, initiating the Battle of the Crater. nps.gov
13. 13
    determinerarchaic

    Archaic: my, used before a vowel sound or after the noun.

    Mine eyes grow heavy as the candle burns low.

    'Thou art mine enemy,' the actor thundered, drawing his wooden sword.

    Note

    Older English treated the possessive much like a and an, using the full form before a vowel sound. Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic" (1862) keeps it in "Mine eyes have seen the glory." Mine host lingers as a set phrase, and The Packard Magazine still uses it in 1930. It can also follow its noun in old poetic style, as in mother mine. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

    • Historically, my and mine alternated before consonants and vowels, analogously to a and an. en.wikipedia.org
    • Julia Ward Howe wrote Battle Hymn of the Republic, published in 1862. tile.loc.gov
    • The poem begins with the quoted words. en.wikisource.org
    • The Packard Magazine used mine host in 1930. en.wiktionary.org
    • Mine can follow its noun in poetry, including mother mine. en.wikisource.org
14. 14
    sap wallsverbtransitive

    To dig away the ground or foundation beneath something in order to weaken or collapse it.

    Rather than storm the gate, the besiegers chose to mine the walls, tunneling beneath them and carting away earth until the stones began to sag.

    Over several weeks the sappers mined the corner tower, hollowing out the ground beneath it and holding it up with wooden props until they set the props on fire.

    Similarundermine, sap

    Note

    A siege verb, close to sap and undermine, it means to dig away what holds something up or to tunnel beneath it and fill the gap with powder. John Hayward, writing before 1628, says simply "They mined the walls." Scott's Waverley (1814) applies it to great trees packed with gunpowder. From this image comes slow, secret ruin. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

    • This sense means undermining a foundation, including military mining with explosives, and is synonymous with sap and undermine. en.wiktionary.org
    • John Hayward's writing predates 1628. en.wikipedia.org
    • Hayward used the words They mined the walls. en.wiktionary.org
    • Walter Scott's Waverley was first published in 1814. nls.uk
    • Waverley uses mined for trees hollowed out and charged with gunpowder. gutenberg.org
    • The figurative sense of gradual or secret destruction extends from the literal undermining sense. en.wiktionary.org
15. 15
    weaken slowlyverbfigurativelytransitive

    To ruin or destroy something gradually, by slow degrees or through secret means.

    Similarundermine, erode, sap, weaken, subvert

    Oppositestrengthen, bolster, reinforce

16. 16
    pick noseverbslangintransitive

    To pick one's nose.

    Note

    The slang extends the digging verb to a finger in the nostril. It belongs to jokes, teasing and casual talk among friends or children, and in any other setting it is better left unsaid. Because the verb has respectable senses too, the joke works only when the context makes it plain.

17. 17
    noun

    The tunnel or hollow patch an insect larva makes as it feeds inside a leaf, between its outer layers.
18. 18
    noun

    A firework that explodes at ground level, shooting a burst of sparks or stars upward.