# mining

Pronunciation: say "MY-ning" /ˈmaɪnɪŋ/

## Noun

1. The work of removing valuable solid materials, such as coal, metals, or gems, from the earth.
   - Simple: Digging valuable materials like coal, gold, or metal out of the ground.
   - _Mining has shaped the economy of these mountain regions for generations._
   - _Decades of mining left the hillside scarred and unstable._
2. Any activity that extracts something of value from a source or works to undermine it.
   - Simple: The act of digging useful things out of something, or slowly wearing it down.
   - _The mining of social media data raised serious privacy concerns._
   - _The novel owes much to the author's patient mining of court records from the 1800s._
3. The creation of new cryptocurrency units by validating transactions and proving computational work.
   - Simple: Making new digital coins by using computers to solve difficult puzzles and check and record transactions.
   - _Cryptocurrency mining has driven up demand for powerful graphics cards._
   - _The firm moved its bitcoin mining to a region with cheap electricity, since its computers ran day and night._
5. The activity of laying explosive devices, known as mines, across land or water to damage enemy forces.
   - Simple: Putting explosive devices called mines on or under the ground or in water to harm an enemy.
   - _The mining of shipping lanes became a central naval tactic in the conflict._
   - _Coastal mining slowed the invasion fleet for several days._

## Verb

4. Present participle of mine, used as a verb for the action under way (they are mining coal; mining the harbor), not as a noun naming the activity. — present participle and gerund of mine
   - Simple: Present participle of mine. Use it after am, is, are, was or were, as in they are mining copper.
   - _Workers are mining the new seam around the clock._
   - _The company has been mining gold in the region for decades._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mining (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).