▪ I. mine, n.
(maɪn)
Forms: 4–7 myn(e, 6 moine, myene, miene, mynne, Sc. mynd(e, 4– mine.
[a. F. mine (1314 in Hatz.-Darm.), whence Pr., Sp., It. mina; also G., Da. mine, Du. mijn, Sw. mina.
The origin of the Fr. word is doubtful. The evidence seems to point to the derivation of the n. from the vb. (see mine v.), which in the earliest instances had the general sense to excavate, make underground passages, undermine. (The alleged 9th c example of med.L. mina plumbi ‘lead-mine’ given by Du Cange is from a spurious charter.) This renders it difficult to accept the otherwise plausible connexion of the n. with the OCeltic *meini- ore, metal (Welsh mwyn, Irish méinn).]
1. a. An excavation made in the earth for the purpose of digging out metals or metallic ores, or certain other minerals, as coal, salt, precious stones (in 16th–17th c. occas. building stones, sand). Also, the place from which such minerals may be obtained by excavation.
royal mine, mine royal: in English Law, any mine yielding more gold or silver than will cover the cost of working: all such mines being liable to be claimed as the property of the Crown.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 10737 A perylous chaunce to hym fyl; For, a grete party of þat yche myne Fyl dowun yn þe hole, and closed hym ynne. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 83 Ferst forto gete it out of Myne, And after forto trie and fyne. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 6080 Of awmber ryche and fyn, Pulshed ful clene out of the Myn. 1467–8 Rolls of Parlt. V. 582/2 Mynes of Coles and Leede, and all other Possessions. 1535 Coverdale 1 Macc. viii. 3 The Mynes of syluer and golde that are there. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia i. (1895) 64 Them they condempned into ston quarris, and in to myenes to dygge mettalle. 1555 Eden Decades i. iii. 11 By reason of a myne of stones which was nere vnto the same, seruynge well bothe to buylde with, and also to make lyme. ? 1568 in Pettus Fodinæ Reg. (1670) 54 The Governours, Assistants, and Commonalty for the Mines Royal. 1638 Rawley tr. Bacon's Life & Death (1650) 3 Stones continue longer, if they be laid towards the same Coast of Heaven, in the Building, that they lay in the Mine. 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 149 Bring in severall Loades of Sands either out of the streets or wayes, or from a sand-pit or mine once or twice a week. 1672 Boyle Ess. Gems 31 In East-India,..they are wonderfully unskillful at digging Mines; as I have gathered from the Answers of some, who..went to visit the Diamond Mines, as they call them. 1696 Phillips (ed. 5), Mine is also that part of the Earth where Metals and Minerals are found, and out of which they are digg'd. 1698 J. Keill Exam. Th. Earth (1734) 37 If we descend into the Mines or Pits, we shall find the matter there to be three or four times heavier than the earth above. 1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. (1815) 276 The deepest mine that has been worked in Europe..is one at Truttenberg in Bohemia. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 113 Gold and silver mines abound in the Andes. 1882 Rep. to Ho. Repr. Prec. Met. U.S. 96 The hydraulic and drift-mines during the last year have produced large sums. |
† b. hyperbolically. An abundant mass of gold.
| 1656 Cowley Pindar. Odes, Extasie ix, The Horses were of temper'd Lightning made,..The noblest, sprightful'st Breed, And flaming Mines their Necks array'd. |
c. fig. An abundant source of supply; a store from which (something specified) may be obtained in plenty.
| 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. O ij, Specyally aboute the pryncipal membres that are the mynes of strength. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer i. B ij b, Some in rydinge, some in playnge at fence, euerye man accordinge to the moine of his mettall [It. (1547) 6 b, ciascuno secondo la minera del suo metallo]. 1601 Shakes. Phœnix & Turtle 36 So betweene them Loue did shine, That the Turtle saw his right, Flaming in the Phœnix sight; Either was the others mine. a 1764 Lloyd Dial. Poet. Wks. 1774 II. 4 You must have a fund, a mine, Prose, poems, letters. 1819 Byron Juan i. xi, Her memory was a mine; she knew by heart All Calderon and greater part of Lopé. 1905 Athenæum 30 Dec. 887/2 Her book is a mine of valuable information. |
† d. transf. A subterranean cavity.
Obs.| 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. ii. 79 The baudy winde that kisses all it meetes, Is hush'd within the hollow Myne of Earth And will not hear't. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xvii. 51 When a whirlewind..tosseth therewithall His fixt root from his hollow mines. |
e. dial. (See
quot.)
| 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. VI. i. xvi. 92 The Middlesex Farmers about Harrow..get a..great deal of Sullidge out of the Bottom of Drains in Roads, Commons, and other Places, which they here call a Mine. |
2. a. Mineral or ore. Now only used for iron ore. Also with defining prefix, forming
adjs. (often used
ellipt.):
all-mine, designating the best quality of pig-iron, made from ore only;
part-mine, designating pig-iron made from ore mixed with cinder.
orange mine: see
orange n.1 B 2 c.
| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiii. 149 Þe erthe es full of myne of gold and siluer. 1460–70 Bk. Quintessence 3 Good gold naturel, and of þe myn of þe erþe, is clepid of philosophoris sol in latyn. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. ii. vii. (1588) 305 Every occupier of any maner of Ironworks, which shall cary any coles, Mine, or Iron, to or from the same. a 1650 Boate Irel. Nat. Hist. xvi. (1652) 126 In Ireland,..in some places the Oar of the Iron is drawn out of Moores and Bogs, in others it is hewen out of Rockes, and in others it is digged out of Mountains: of which three sorts the first is called Bog-mine, the other, Rock-mine, and the third with severall names, White-mine, Pin-mine, and Shel-mine. 1651 French Distill. v. 166 Take of the Mine of allum, or allum stones. 1674 Ray Collect. Words, Prep. Tin (E.D.S.) 12 The water runs out, and carries away with it the mine that is pounded small enough to pass the holes. 1861 Fairbairn Iron 53 To increase the quantity of mine or ore to the charge. 1900 Daily News 24 Oct. 2/4 Pig iron sells slowly at..65s. for part-mine, 62s. 6d. to 70s. for all-mine. |
| fig. 1608 Machin Dumb Knt. i. i. B 4 b, The mine Which doth attract my spirit to run this marshall course, Is the faire guard of a distressed Queene. |
† b. Applied
spec. to gold.
Obs.| 1627 P. Fletcher Locusts ii. xxi, Poore Soules, they dare not soile their hands with precious mine. 1633 ― Purple Isl. viii. xxvi, Thus wallowing on his god, his heap of mine, He feeds his famished soul with that deceiving shine. |
3. Mil. In ancient warfare, a subterranean passage excavated under the wall of a besieged fortress, for the purpose either of directly giving entrance to the besiegers, or of causing the wall to fall by removal of its foundation. In modern warfare, a subterranean gallery in which gunpowder is placed, for blowing up the enemy's fortifications; the charge of powder contained in such a gallery. Hence, in recent naval warfare, a receptacle filled with dynamite or other explosive, placed under water, and provided with means by which it can be made to explode so as to destroy an enemy's vessel passing close to it.
contact-mine: see
contact n. 6. Also, a receptacle containing explosive placed in or on the ground as a weapon of war;
freq. with qualifying word indicating the kind or use: for
acoustic,
land,
magnetic, etc.,
mine, see under the first elements.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 240/1 A Myne, cunus, via subterranea, cunulus, cuniculus. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. (1812) I. cix. 132 Then he called to hym his myners, to thyntent that they shuld make a myne vnder all the walles. 1533 Bellenden Livy v. viii. (xix.) (S.T.S.) II. 173 Þai made ane mynde [MS. B. myn] vnder þe erde to mak ane gate be quhilk þai mycht cum to þe castell of Veos. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 981 Sir Alexander Baynam..caused a myne to be enterprised to enter into the towne, but the Frenchmen perceyuing that, made a countermine. 1574 Whitgift Def. Answ. 141 To buyld vp the walles of Jerusalem, whiche you haue broken downe: and to fill vp the Mines that you haue digged. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iii. ii. 61 To the Mynes? Tell you the Duke, it is not so good to come to the Mynes: for looke you, the Mynes is not according to the disciplines of the Warre. 1695 Prior Ballad 36 Cannons above, and mines below, Did death and tombs for foes contrive. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. (1869) I. xxiv. 689 A mine was carried under the foundations of the walls. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 476 The fort was carried by storm after the destruction of part of its defences by the successful explosion of a mine. 1853 Herschel Pop. Lect. Sci. §24 (1873) 18 As if a succession of mines had been sprung. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XI. 309/2 The arrangements for exploding submarine mines or fixed torpedoes, where hostile vessels are passing close to them, are somewhat of the same character. 1889 J. T. Bucknill Submarine Mines xx. 219 Just as the mines themselves form a grand obstruction to the passage of large vessels..so smaller obstructions can..impede..the passage of small craft whose aims may be to attack the mines. 1890 [see land-mine s.v. land n.1 12]. 1915 W. Owen Let. 8 Jan. (1967) 313, I am not exposed to chances of mine or torpedo. 1942 War Illustr. 16 Oct. 238/1 A man can walk over a mine easily enough, but a tank or lorry'll send them up in a proper earthquake. 1968 Visct. Montgomery Hist. Warfare xviii. 416 In 1855, in the Baltic, Russia made the first serious use of floating mines. |
| fig. 1639 S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 30 All the subtilties, which he invented to intrap her, were as so many vented mines, without any effect. 1647 May Hist. Parl. iii. vi. 100 Many Mynes and Countermynes were every day working..on both sides. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 286 An unseen mine blew up all this tranquillity. |
4. (See
quot.)
| 1869 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 632 The mine..is a firework in which a number of crackers..are thrown up into the air. |
5. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple
attrib., as
mine-agent,
mine-crater,
mine-dust,
mine-fire,
mine-head,
mine-mouth,
mine-owner,
mine-pump (in
quot. attrib.),
mine-shaft,
mine-slime,
mine-stamp (
stamp n.3 9),
mine-warfare,
mine-water,
mine-worker;
b. objective, as
mine-digger,
mine-digging.
| 1855 J. R. Leifchild Cornwall Mines 262 What exactly suits the views of a *mine-agent, may not exactly suit yours. |
| 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 269 Two huge *mine-craters sentinel it, left and right. |
| a 1691 Boyle (J.), A *mine-digger may meet with a gem, which he knows not what to make of. |
| 1648 Owen Toleration Wks. 1851 VIII. 176 Which penalty..was inflicted unto banishment, imprisonment, *mine-digging. |
| 1886 J. Barrowman Gloss. Scottish Mining Terms 45 *Mine dust, the riddlings of calcined ironstone. |
| 1813 Scott Trierm. iii. xxxiii, Foul vapours rise and *mine-fires glare. |
| 1923 Daily Mail 16 Mar. 9 The present intention is to send labour squads..to successive *mine-heads. |
| 1886 J. Barrowman Gloss. Scottish Mining Terms 45 *Mine mouth, the point where a mine leaves the surface of the ground. |
| 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 341 *Mine-owners are naturally elated and hopeful under this new..condition of affairs. |
| 1824 R. Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 117 The *mine-pump end of the lever-beam. |
| 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. i. iv, On the whole, as in opening new *mine-shafts is not unreasonable, there is much rubbish in his Book. |
| 1921 Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 262/1 A savage land of rocks and lakes and *mine-slime and active and derelict mine-workings. |
| 1926 J. Masefield Odtaa xiv. 233 It is a kind of a *mine-stamp, or engine of some sort. 1953 D. Lessing Five iii. 128 The mine-stamps thudded day and night, coming loud or soft, according to the direction of the wind. |
| 1910 Blackw. Mag. June 895/2 The immense development of *mine warfare. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XV. 531/2 A self-contained continental power..has little to lose and everything to gain by unrestricted mine warfare. 1974 Saturday (Charleston, S. Carolina) 20 Apr. 3-A/2 Like wood, the fiberglass hull is non-magnetic and is considered good for mine warfare. |
| 1882 Rep. to Ho. Repr. Prec. Met. U.S. 640 A very ingenious utilization of a portion of the *mine-waters is made. |
| 1901 Edin. Rev. Apr. 496 An agreement..that the *mine-workers should receive an advance of 10 per cent. in their rates of wages. 1928 Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inquiry) iv. 266 The pensioning of older mine-workers. 1975 Times 18 Feb. 2/1 Mineworkers' leaders in the traditionally militant areas of Scotland and Yorkshire yesterday voted to back the {pstlg}140m pay deal negotiated by their national union leaders with the National Coal Board last week. |
6. Special comb.:
mine adventure, a speculation in mines;
mine-adventurer, one who takes part in a mine adventure;
mine-boy S. Afr., a native African who works in the mines;
mine-captain, the overseer of a mine (Worcester, 1860);
mine-car (see
quots.);
mine-clearing, the operation of freeing a harbour from mines;
mine-detector, an instrument which, by its reaction to metal, indicates the presence of mines;
mine-dial (see
quot.);
mine-dragging, the operation of dragging the bottom of the sea in order to remove the mines laid by the enemy;
mine dredger, an apparatus for taking up mines laid;
mine-dump S. Afr., a pile of refuse material on the surface of a mine,
esp. a gold-mine (
cf. dump n.4 1);
mine earth (see
quot. and
cf. sense 2);
mine-field, a portion of the sea in which mines have been laid; also, an area of land in which mines have been laid; also
fig.;
mine greys, ‘thin beds of shelly limestone’ (E.D.D.);
mine ground (see
quot.);
mine-hunt v. intr., to hunt or sweep for mines;
mine-hunter = mine-sweeper;
mine-hunting = mine-sweeping;
mine-iron = mine pig;
mine-lamp, a lamp used in a mine; also
fig.;
mine-layer, a ship or aeroplane equipped to lay mines;
mine-laying, the operation of laying explosive mines; also
attrib. or as adj.;
† mine man, a miner;
mine-master, (
a)
Mil. one who superintends the laying of mines; (
b) the overseer of a mine;
mine-pig, pig-iron made from mine or ore, as distinguished from
cinder-pig;
mine-pit, a pit or shaft belonging to a mine;
mine ship Naut., (see
quot.);
mine-sinker, a device for keeping a mine submerged;
mine-sowing = mine-laying;
mine-spirit, a spirit supposed to inhabit a mine (
cf. fairy n. 4 b);
mine-stone,
-stuff, ore,
esp. ironstone;
mine surveyor (see
quot.);
mine-sweeper, a ship for mine-sweeping;
mine-sweeping = mine-dragging;
mine-thrower [
tr. G.
minenwerfer], a trench-mortar;
mine tin, tin worked out of the lode;
cf. moor-tin,
stream-tin;
mine-tipple N. Amer. [
tipple n.3], a tip (
tip n.5 3) at a mine;
mine-town, a town of which the population consists chiefly of miners;
mine-viewer = mine surveyor;
mine-work, (
a)
Mil. pl. subterraneous passages of the nature of mines; (
b) a system of ‘workings’ or excavated passages belonging to a mine.
| 1700 Broadside, List of all the Adventurers in the *Mine Adventure, May the First, 1700. 1703 Steele Tend. Husb. ii. i. 26, I consider'd all the Stocks..and Mine-Adventures, till she told me [etc.]. |
| 1778 Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2) s.v. Pullox-Hill, A gold mine was discovered here..by the society of royal *mine-adventurers. |
| 1945 P. Abrahams Song of City 73 The tom-tom beat of the Maraba..danced away the seething bitterness that is attendant with repression... On the morrow the houseboy would be a good..houseboy!.. And the *mine-boy. 1953 P. Lanham Blanket Boy's Moon i. v. 51 One Monare, a mine-boy, friend of Ntoane here, was watching. 1954 P. Abrahams Tell Freedom iii. iii. 108 Fights often flare up between mine-boys and house-boys. |
| 1956 F. S. Atkinson in D. L. Linton Sheffield 270 Diesel locomotives with large *mine-cars are being used extensively underground, particularly in Yorkshire. 1967 Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) x. 11 Mine car, a large tub (usually spring mounted and over 60 ft..capacity) used primarily for mineral haulage underground. |
| 1905 Q. Rev. Jan. 204 Several smaller craft were destroyed in the operation of *mine-clearing. |
| 1943 Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 12 May—3 Aug. 125 (caption) The soldier in the foreground is sweeping the ground with a *mine detector and wearing earphones as he listens intently for the buzz indicating the presence of a mine. 1945 Finito! Po Valley Campaign 41 The glass-topped Topf mines that fooled the mine-detectors. 1955 E. S. Gardner Case of Glamorous Ghost (1960) x. 121, I used what is known as a mine detector..an electronic device so designed that when it is moved over the surface of the ground it will give a peculiar squeal when it is moved over a metallic object. |
| 1701 Moxon Math. Instrum. 12 *Mine⁓dial, a Box and Needle with a brass Ring, divided into 360 degrees, with several Dials Graduated thereon, generally thus made for the use of Miners. |
| 1905 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 167/1 On May 12 *mine-dragging operations in Talien Bay cost him a torpedo-boat. |
| 1904 Daily Chron. 9 Aug. 5/1 Our ships, preceded by *mine dredgers, steamed towards Lungantan. |
| 1926 S. G. Millin S. Africans iii. 77 They are the *mine-dumps, the refuse of stamp-mill and cyanide tank. 1956 V. Jenkins Lions Rampant v. 76 Dominating the landscape..are the huge yellow-white mine dumps which mark the gold mines. 1971 Gloss. Soil Sci. Terms (Soil Sci. Soc. Amer.) 11/1 Mine dumps, areas covered with overburden and other waste materials from ore and coal mines, quarries, and smelters, and usually with little or no vegetative cover. |
| 1883 Gresley Coal-mining Gloss., *Mine Earth (N.S.). Synonymous with ironstone in beds: a term used as much as 200 years ago. |
| 1886 Pall Mall G. 21 Aug. 1/2 It has been already shown by similar attacks upon *mine fields unprotected in this way that the removal of such obstacles is a simple enough affair. 1889 J. T. Bucknill Submarine Mines xiv. 168 Secrecy is essential... Any artifice which ingenuity can suggest should be undertaken... False reports concerning the mine fields should be spread. 1917 A. Conan Doyle His Last Bow viii. 298 It would brighten my declining years to see a German cruiser navigating the Solent according to the minefield plans which I have furnished. 1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 432/2 Other anti-tank agencies being given consideration are mine-fields and ‘catch trenches’ (i.e. tank traps). 1942 Times 8 June 4/6 The ‘Cauldron’, an area..between..the upper and lower gaps which Rommel forced through our minefield. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XV. 532/2 By the end of 1914 Britain had established extensive mine-fields in the English Channel. 1963 Times 16 Feb. 4/6 This bold venture into the mine-fields of satire is one to be supported and preserved. 1968 Visct. Montgomery Hist. Warfare xxi. 512 Wavell once compared the tactics of war in the desert to war at sea; minefields were laid in the desert very much as they were in the sea. 1973 Times 30 Nov. 19/1 He is..operating..in a political minefield, requiring more circumspection than he has always managed. |
| 1862 A. C. Ramsay, etc. Descr. Catal. Rock Spec. (ed. 3) 149 In many of the localities in the Weald these limestones are known by the name of *mine greys. |
| 1883 Gresley Coal-mining Gloss., *Mine Ground, strata containing ironstone in layers. |
| 1964 Navy News Nov. 5/5 After refitting and converting..H.M.S. Iveston commissioned on October 16th as a Coastal *Minehunter. 1974 Times 18 Apr. 1/4 It is the diver's job to locate the unexploded bomb on the canal floor after it has been picked up by the mine-hunter's sonar equipment. |
| 1915 Kipling Fringes of Fleet 74 He's *mine-hunting, I expect, just now. 1964 Navy News Nov. 5/5 She will join the First Minehunting Squadron in December and will be based at Port Edgar in the Firth of Forth. 1974 Observer 17 Mar. 8/4 Minehunting ships—the Navy's new name for minesweepers. 1974 Saturday (Charleston, S. Carolina) 20 Apr. 3-A/2 The mine-hunting vessels include two with wood hulls and one with an experimental fiberglass hull... All three mine hunting vessels have sonar to detect mines and other objects like bombs. |
| 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 144/1 The iron is..to be made wholly of pure or *mine-iron. |
| 1820 Shelley Sens. Plant i. 63 As *mine-lamps enkindle a hidden gem. |
| 1909 Q. Rev. Oct. 575 Six second-class cruisers of the Naval Defence Act have been converted into *mine-layers. 1923 W. S. Churchill World Crisis 1915 260 The mine-layer Nousret had on March 18 thirty-six mines ready for laying. 1939 War Illustr. 16 Dec. 435 Raid by British warplanes..on the German seaplane base at Borkum. They had been looking for the mine-layers—and they had found them. 1944 Aeronautics July 32/3 Suitable for duties as a torpedo bomber, a dive bomber, or a mine layer, the Fairey Barracuda was first reported in action on the 3rd April 1944. |
| 1911 Q. Rev. Oct. 466 The money..is now expended upon a large and increasing fleet of *mine-laying and mine-sweeping ships. 1921 Flight 19 May 348/2 The American naval authorities are reported to have been carrying out in Chesapeake Bay experiments in mine-laying from the air. 1928 C. F. S. Gamble Story N. Sea Air Station xviii. 310 The U.C. boats were of a type designed both for mine-laying and torpedo work. 1939 Flight 30 Nov. 429/2 The mine-laying machines cannot behave as the enemy reconnaissance machines have been behaving of late, namely arriving at a great height and hurrying away at the first hint of defence activity. 1955 Times 24 May 8/4 The risk of more serious incidents, such as Egyptian minelaying and Israel retaliation, should also lessen. 1958 P. Kemp No Colours or Crest iii. 37 The fast mine-laying cruiser Manxman. |
| 1579–80 North Plutarch, P. æmilius (1595) 268 They are confuted by the common experience of these *mine men, that dig in the mines for mettall. 1755 Johnson, Adit,..a term among the minemen. |
| 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. iii. 133 There must be, *Mine-maisters, Smithes [etc]. 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 112 The Requisits to a perfect knowledge of the Metallick Art, and of the qualities of the Mine-master. 1683 in Cochran-Patrick Rec. Coinage Scotl. (1876) II. 200 That he or his deput or the myn master be judges in all debaits about myns and levells. |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Mine-pig, Eng. See Pig-iron. 1884 W. H. Greenwood Steel & Iron iv. 56 Cinder-pig in contradistinction to all mine pig—i.e., pig smelted entirely from ore or mine—is obtained by [etc.]. |
| 1650 Trapp Comm. Num. iv. 3 A labouring even to lassitude; compared therefore to..digging in *mine-pits. 1862 A. C. Ramsay, etc. Descr. Catal. Rock Spec. (ed. 3) 148 These still go by the name of ‘mine-pits’, and must not be confounded with the ‘marl-pits’, or those other deeper openings. |
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey) *Mine Ships or Powder-Ships, Ships fill'd with Gun-powder, enclos'd in strong Vaults of Brick or Stone; to be brought up, and fired in the midst of the Enemies Fleet. |
| 1889 C. Sleeman Torpedoes (ed. 2) vi. 119 The only practicable method of testing the efficiency of *mine anchors or sinkers is to moor a buoyant mine to an anchor. 1926 Spectator 21 Aug. 271/1 He..produced 50,000 minesinkers at a very low cost. |
| 1940 Bartlett & Williams War of 1939 II. iii. 104 The Germans..had turned to indiscriminate *mine-sowing. 1940 War Illustr. 5 Jan. 568/3 Particular attention being paid to the favourite areas of the mine-sowing seaplanes in the Thames Estuary. |
| 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 144 It is said that the miners of Idra have formerly been so superstitious as to set some provisions for the *mine-spirit every day. |
| 1612 Sturtevant Metallica 35 Prepared or roasted oares, *Mine-stones, or Mettle-stones beeing the fitt matter of Metallique liquours. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 185 'Tis the first Iron that runs from the Mine-stone when 'tis melting. 1862 A. C. Ramsay, etc. Descr. Catal. Rock Spec. (ed. 3) 148 The sites..where the ‘iron-mine’ or ‘mine-stone’ was extracted. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 969 During this operation, all the water and *mine-stuff are drawn off by the pit. |
| 1860 Eng. & For. Min. Gloss. (S. Staffs.), *Mine Surveyor, a person who dials the working of a colliery as often as requisite, and makes plans of the mines got and ungot. |
| 1905 Westm. Gaz. 27 Sept. 4/2 *Mine-sweepers are to play a great part, it seems certain, in future naval warfare. 1914 Illustr. London News 22 Aug. 286/3 Mine-sweepers..precede the fleet to sea and clear its path of hostile mines. 1940 Bartlett & Williams War of 1939 II. iii. 106 Mine damage at this time was not confined to merchant vessels, the British minesweepers Mastiff and Aragonite being sunk with casualties. Ibid. 107 The British Admiralty were quick..to appeal for two hundred additional drifters to act as minesweepers. 1972 Daily Tel. 21 Jan. 2/8 More mine-sweepers and helicopters will be used from this summer to improve coastal fishery protection. Ibid., Helicopters..will make spotter sweeps to help the minesweepers to guard the six-mile limit fishing areas against unauthorised vessels. |
| 1904 Daily Chron. 9 Nov. 5/2 Five *mine-sweeping steamers have been sunk by Japanese shells. 1905 Ibid. 12 Sept. 3/1 He took part in the risky game of mine⁓sweeping. 1915 Chambers's Jrnl. May 294/2 The operation of taking up mines is known as ‘mine-sweeping’. 1958 Times 11 Nov. 9/1 Two coastal mine-sweeping flotillas..are already under N.A.T.O. command. 1973 Listener 26 Apr. 535/1 Mine-sweeping operations off Haiphong. |
| 1915 Illustr. London News 13 Feb. 204/2 The Germans..had actually provided..themselves with mortars of this description, the so-called minen-werfer—*mine-throwers. 1923 Daily Mail 17 Jan. 7 They captured 7 Frenchmen, 15 local policemen, 3 minethrowers, and a machine gun. |
| 1602 Carew Cornw. (1723) 15 b, A foote of..the *Myne Tynne..[will weigh] fiftie two pound. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1244 Mine tin requires peculiar care in its mechanical preparation or dressing. |
| 1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel i. 111 In the middle of squirrels and *minetipples. 1974 Beautiful Brit. Columbia Spring 27/2 Coal is still mined there in large quantities. The highway passes underneath a portion of the mine tipple. |
| 1802 Brookes' Gazetteer (ed. 12), Platen, a *mine⁓town of Bohemia. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 1271 At the pleasure of the skilful *mine-viewer. |
| 1583 T. Stocker Civ. Warres Lowe C. iv. 49 b, The Enemie had in suche sorte wrought his *Mine woorkes, as that he had gotten into a Monasterie within the Citie. 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 112 Other chief Overseers of the Mine-works. 1900 Baring-Gould Bk. Dartmoor 231 An old mine-work, now filled with water. |
▪ II. mine, poss. pron. (
maɪn)
Forms: 1
m{iacu}n, 2–4
min, 3–6
myn(e, 4
mein,
miin, 6
mijn,
Sc. mynn(e, 3–
mine. In 1–3 inflected as
str. adj. (2–3
dat. sing. fem. mire); in 4
sing. min,
pl. mine.
[Com. Teut.: OE. m{iacu}n = OFris., OS. mîn (Du. mijn), OHG. mîn (MHG. mîn, mod.G. mein), ON. m{iacu}n-n (Sw., Da. min), Goth. mein-s:—OTeut. *mîno-, f. *me-: see me pers. pron. A case-form (whether ablative, locative, or instrumental is uncertain) of this possessive
adj. serves in all early
Teut. langs. as the genitive of the pronoun of 1
pers. sing.:
OE. m{iacu}n,
OFris.,
OS.,
OHG. mîn,
ON. m{iacu}n,
Goth. meina. The
OE. m{iacu}n as genitive did not survive into
ME. (uses like
malgre min being not survivals, but imitations of French); and is therefore not illustrated here.]
The possessive pronoun of the first person
sing. 1. Qualifying a following
n. Now only
arch. or
poet. before a vowel or
h; otherwise superseded by
my,
q.v. for the various uses.
Already in the 13th c. the rule in southern and midland
Eng. was to use
myn before vowels and
h, and
my before consonants, and this subsisted until the 18th c., though occasional examples of
mine before consonants are found even in the 16th c. In
Sc. the longer form was commonly used in all contexts down to the 15th c.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xv. 24 For-þam þes min sunu wæs dead. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 225 Þanne beo ic ȝemeneȝed mines weddes. c 1200 Ormin 2956 Drihhtin me ȝifeþ witt & mihht To forþenn wel min wille. c 1205 Lay. 8407 Þe oðer wes mire suster sune. Ibid. 28220 Þat ich habbe minne æm awræke mid þan bezste. a 1225 Ancr. R. 406 Bute ȝif ich parti urom ou, þe Holi Gost, þet is, min and mines Federes luue, ne mei nout kumen to ou. c 1374 Chaucer Compl. Mars 57 Then seyde he thus—myn hertes lady swete [etc.]. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints Prol. 169 At Petir firste I wald begyne, And sa furtht to myn purposs win. 1400 in Ancestor July (1904) 14, I bequeth to Hawys myn wyff all myn necessaries that arn in myn place. 1467 in Bury Wills (Camden) 46, I wyll that John myn sone haue myn seid place callyd Upwode Halle. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. vi, He shall be myn mortal enemy. 1526 Tindale John xvi. 26 At that daye shall ye axe in myne name. 1558 in Strype Ann. Ref. (1824) I. ii. 72, I do send you at this present mine faithful Chaplain. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. iii. 93 Shall I not take mine ease in mine Inne. 1628 Hakewill in Ussher's Lett. (1686) 399 During mine abode in the University. 1726 Swift Gulliver ii. vii, Till I had gotten a little below the level of mine eyes. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters I. Ded., [It] would be very far from desireable, in mine estimation. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus lxiv. 223 Rather, first in cries mine heart shall lighten her anguish. |
b. In association with another possessive,
mine is by some used (without intention of archaism) instead of
my.
| 1559 Hales in Foxe A. & M. (1583) II. 2117/1, I haue..discouered myne, yours, and Englands enemies. 1610 Shakes. Temp. iii. iii. 93 His, and mine lou'd darling. 1611 ― Cymb. v. v. 230 Oh Gentlemen, helpe, Mine and your Mistris. 1761 F. Sheridan Sidney Bidulph III. 165 As mine and my child's future welfare must be [etc.]. 1804–6 Syd. Smith Mor. Philos. (1850) 209, I bought them both the same day, mine and your ticket. |
† c. Phr.
min dieu repr. F.
mon Dieu! my God!
Obs.| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 961 (Kölbing) ‘A, min dieu’, seyd the justise, ‘Þine tales ben gode & wise’. |
2. Placed after the
n. Now only
arch. in vocative.
| c 1200 Ormin Ded. 1 Nu, broþerr Wallter broþerr min. c 1205 Lay. 12064 Ȝif hit wule Appolin Þat is deore lauerd min. a 1250 Owl & Night. 711 (Jesus MS.) Hwy axestu of craftes myne. a 1300 E.E. Psalter vii. 6 (Horstm.) Fylegh saule mine þe faa. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 1442 (Kölbing) Tel me now, sone mine, Whi [etc.]. Ibid. 4977 Y dar legge heued min, Þat [etc.]. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 309 This is ynogh Grisilde myn quod he. c 1402 Lydg. Compl. Bl. Knt. 639 O gladde sterre, O lady Venus myne! c 1550 Cheke Matt. xxvi. 25 Js it J M{supr} mijn, quoth he. 1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. (S.T.S.) 38 O Father myne, how lang haif I Thy trew and faithfull seruand bene. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 82 Rom. Thou chid'st me oft for louing Rosaline. Fri. For doting, not for louing pupill mine. 1611 Florio, Mamma,..also Mam, Mother-mine, or Mammie, as children first call their Mothers. 1852 Bristed Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. 67 There, reader mine! Is that last page grave and solid enough for you? |
† 3. In idiomatic phrases,
mine alone,
mine one,
mine unwitting,
maugre mine; see those words.
4. As predicative
adj.: Belonging to me.
| c 1000 ælfric Exod. xix. 5 Eall eorðe ys min. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 35 Me were leofere þenne al world þat hit were min. c 1200 Ormin 17964 Þiss blisse iss min la fuliwiss. a 1300 Cursor M. 970 (Cott.) Of alkin fruit haf þou þe nine For i wil þat þe tend be mine [Gött. mein, riming with neien]. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 90, I wusshe hit weore myn. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 145 Blessed be seynt Valentyne! For on his day I chees yow to be myne. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. vi, The fyrst part is myn by cause I am your lord. 1535 Coverdale John vii. 16 My doctryne is not myne, but his that hath sent me. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 497 Giue me your hand, and say you will be mine. 1697 Dryden Virg. Eclog. x. 54 Ah! that your Birth and Bus'ness had been mine. 1832 Tennyson May Queen Conclus. x, It's not for them: it's mine. 1864–8 Browning J. Lee's Wife iv. v, Such as you were, I took you for mine. |
5. Elliptically, equivalent to
my with a
n. supplied from the context.
| a 1175 Cott. Hom. 223 For þan þe [þu] were hihersam þines [wifes] wordum mor ðan mine. c 1205 Lay. 676 He deð him selua freoma þa helpeð his freondene swa ich wlle mine. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 165 Lay doun thy swerd and I will myn alswa. 1395 E.E. Wills (1882) 7 To preye for my lordes soule Sir Thomas West, and for myn. c 1500 Melusine 157 Your wylle & myne be one. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iii. 59 My hearts deare Loue is set, On the faire daughter of rich Capulet: As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine. 1625 K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis iii. xix. 211 If more holily and religiously wee esteeme of my Fathers preserver and mine. 1786 G. Horne Duty Contend. Faith 8 note, When a man deceives me once, says the Italian proverb, it is his fault; when twice, it is mine. 1843 Borrow Bible in Spain xxxii, I am pleased with your company, as I make no doubt you are with mine. 1866 J. C. Maxwell in Phil. Trans. CLVI. 268 In M. Meyer's experiments the time of vibration is shorter than in most of mine. |
6. absol. a. Those who are mine; chiefly, my family, my kindred.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xvii. 10 Mino alle ðino sint & ðino mino sint. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. ibid., Mine alle ðine sindun & ðine mine sindun. a 1300 Cursor M. 5371 He has saued me and mine fra mikel nede. c 1300 Harrow. Hell 64 Y shal þe bringe of helle pyne, ant wyþ þe alle myne. c 1386 Chaucer Melib. ¶915, I..foryeue yow outrely alle the offenses Iniuries and wronges þat ye haue doon agayn me and myne. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 16851 Ȝit I hope that I & myne Schal venge his dethe on the & thine. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 164 Unharmyt of me or ony of myn. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, ii. i. 24, I will neuer more remember Our former hatred, so thriue I, and mine. 1683 Robin Consc. 15 Both I and mine alas would starve. 1829 Wordsw. Mem. II. 209, I and mine will be happy to see you and yours here or anywhere. 1884 A. Phelps Let. 14 Dec. in E. S. Phelps Mem. (1891) 275 God is so unspeakably good to me and mine. 1891 Sir J. Paget in Mem. & Lett. (1901) 387 The unhappiness of being here alone is greater than the happiness of seeing things which, if any of ‘mine’ had been with me, I should [etc.]. |
† b. That which is mine; my property; also, my affair, my business.
Obs.| Beowulf 2737 Ic on earde bad mælᵹesceafta, heold min tela. a 1225 St. Marher. 8 Ich..hit neauer nuste þat he of min hearm hefde. c 1300 Harrow. Hell 97 Seþþe he wes boht wyþ myn, wyþ resoun wolle ich hauen hym. a 1300–1400 Cursor M. 2429 (Gött.) Of þin wil i neuer a dele, Bot leuer me es of mine þu haue. 1382 Wyclif John xvi. 14 Of myne he schal take. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. lv. 132 To þe I committe me & all myne to correcte. 1555 Eden Decades i. iii. 17 b, Myne and Thyne (the seedes of all myscheefe) haue no place with them. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 86 Your grace hath hetherto cherished mee but for mine, but now I will go to him that is more redier to geue then to take. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 385 She shall have me and mine. 1603 ― Meas. for M. ii. ii. 12 Goe to; let that be mine. |
c. of mine: belonging to me: see
of prep. 44.
† 7. Comb. mine-take-it,
app. a phrase in some childish game.
Obs.| 1694 S. Johnson Notes Past. Let. Bp. Burnet i. 28 The ridiculous Ownership we have, is the ridiculous English word, Mine-take-it; which all the Children in England Know, is equivalent to Your's-take-it. |
▪ III. mine, v. (
maɪn)
Forms: 4
mini,
myny, 4–6
myne, (7
moine), 4–
mine.
pa. pple. 4
ymyned.
[ad. F. mine-r (from 12–13th c.) = Pr., Sp., Pg. minar, It. minare; related to mine mine n. The view of Diez, that the
vb. is identical with popular L.
mināre to lead, drive, is not without semasiological plausibility (
cf. drive v. 10); but the normal phonetic representative of
mināre in
Fr. is
mener. Scheler's hypothesis, that F.
miner was a learned adoption of
med.L.
mināre used in technical works, would remove the phonological difficulty, but seems in itself somewhat unlikely.]
1. a. intr. To dig in the earth;
esp. in a military sense, to dig under the foundations of a wall, etc., for the purpose of destroying it. Also, to make subterraneous passages. ?
Obs.| 13.. K. Alis. 1216 Alisaundre quic hoteth his hynen, Under heore walles to myne. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 179 R. had minoures, þat myned vndere þe walle. 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 600 With armyt men enew tharin, And instrumentis als for to myne. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxxvii. 5538 Wndyre the erde he gert thaim myne. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xxx. 110 (Harl. MS.), He saw..an hidowse pitte, and an orible dragon þere in, myning at the tree. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. v. (1520) 43/1 Do you myne depe tyll your men come to the ponde. 1483 Cath. Angl. 240/2 To Myne, arapagere, cunire. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 327 They beganne to mine vnder the Castell. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. (1634) 57 Then, making more room beneath, by moining and carrying out the earth, they [sc. wasps] hang an other comb under the first, by little pins. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World II. v. iii. §9. 465 The Enemie mined; and they countermined. |
b. transf. and
fig.| 1340 Ayenb. 108 Þanne nymþ he his pic and his spade and beginþ to delue and to myny and geþ in-to his herte. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 628 [677] His manhod and his pyne Made loue with-Inne hire for to myne. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love i. Prol. (Skeat) l. 5 Dul wit and a thoughtful soule so sore have myned and graffed in my spirites. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 6918 Water that droppeth euer in oon Myneth ful depe in-to A stoon. 1426 ― De Guil. Pilgr. 4282 Thys mortal werm wyl neuere fyne Vp-on hys mayster for to myne. Ibid. 11872 And many kankres wych on hem myne. c 1430 ― Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 233 In amerous hertys brennyng of Kyndenesse, This name of Jhesu moost profoundly doth myne. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. xxv. §6 To search and mine into that which is not reuealed. |
2. a. trans. To dig or burrow in (the earth); also, to make (a hole, passage, one's way) underground.
| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxvi. 267 A Fox schalle..mynen an hole. Ibid., So longe he schalle mynen and perce the Erthe, til that he schalle passe thorghe. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. vi. 93 The Troglodites myne them selues caues in the grounde, wherin to dwell. 1813 Scott Rokeby ii. ii, Condemned to mine a channell'd way, O'er solid sheets of marble grey. |
b. transf. and
fig. To make a hollow or groove in; to burrow below the surface of; to make (a passage) by burrowing.
| c 1477 Caxton Jason 20 b, How well the stone is myned and holowed by contynuell droppyng of water. 1802 E. Darwin Orig. Soc. iv. 35 The cruel larva mines its silky course. 1811 Pinkerton Petral. II. 551 This stump and the trunk, hollowed and mined by the subterranean heat. 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxii. (1818) II. 279 A subcutaneous larva..that mines the leaves of the rose. 1820 Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 165 He may be said to mine his way into a subject, like a mole. |
c. To supply with subterranean passages; to make subterranean passages under.
| 1820 Shelley Witch Atl. lx. 5 Through fane, and palace-court, and labyrinth mined With many a dark and subterranean street. 1862 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) VII. lix. 245 The site of Jerusalem itself is mined with vaults and galleries. |
† 3. To bury in the ground.
Obs. rare—1.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 334 The long endurid, old, forfreton vine Is not to helpe..To delue hit vnder al, but to reclyne Hit lyke a bowe and vnder lond hit myne. |
4. a. To dig away or remove the foundations of (a wall, fort, etc.); to undermine in order either to cause collapse or to effect a hostile entrance. ?
Obs.| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 408 If þe hosebonde man wiste what hour þe þeef were to come, certis he wolde wake, and suffre him not to myne his hous. 1388 ― Job xxiv. 16 Thei mynen housis in derknesses. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 351 Merke vn-to Meloyne, and myne doune the wallez. c 1400 Brut or Chron. Eng. (E.E.T.S.) 136 William Bastard..hade taken al þe lande aboute Hastynge, & hade also mynede þe castell. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. vi. (1869) 139 The kyng first bifore wente, and mynede the foundement. 1513 Douglas æneis v. viii. 42 To mynd the castell on the rochis hie, Lurkand in harnes wachis round about. 1570 Levins Manip. 139/22 To Mine, suffodere. |
| transf. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. i. 375 Pastaza mines proud Pambamarca's base. 1824 Bryant Green River ii, The plane-tree's speckled arms o'ershoot The swifter current that mines its root. |
b. fig. To attack, overcome, ruin, or destroy by slow or secret methods; to undermine.
Occas. with
down,
away.
| c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3133 They at þe fulle kunne his herte myne. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 15650 Whan Ire doth myn herte myne. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. i. 21 Hee..mines my gentility with my education. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone iii. i, I haue done Base offices in..Whispering false lies, or mining men with prayses. 1751 J. Brown Shaftesb. Charac. 239 'Till..irreligion and licentiousness appear; mine the foundations of the fabric, and sink it in the general abyss of ignorance and oppression. a 1814 Love, Honor & Interest i. i. in New Brit. Theatre III. 260 While love is mining down The strength and virtue of my own esteem. 1847 Lytton Lucretia 31 The wreck of man is fretted and mined away by small pleasures and poor excitements. |
| absol. 1748 Johnson Van. Hum. Wishes 332 The rival batters, and the lover mines. |
5. In modern warfare: To lay mines (see
mine n. 3) under, for the purpose of destruction.
| 1630 Hayward Edw. VI 60 They mined the walls, laid the powder and rammed the mouth. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2158/1 A Deserter..had informed the Imperial Generals that the said Towers were Mined. 1775 Johnson West. Isl. Wks. X. 482 It is built upon a rock, as Mr. Boswell remarked, that it might not be mined. 1820 Greville Mem. 10 Dec. (1874) 41 The Prussians arrived, mined the arches, and attempted to blow up the bridge. 1851 Gladstone in Morley Life (1903) I. iii. vi. 403 The ground is mined and the train is laid. 1862 Thackeray Philip vii. I. 135 Old Parr Street is mined, sir,—mined! And some morning we shall be blown into blazes. 1885 N. Amer. Rev. Sept. 274 Although the waters may be reported as mined in all directions, a bold test would show them to be clear of such dangers. |
6. trans. To obtain (metals, etc.) from a mine.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. xciv. (1495) 585 In Capodoce is yelow salt digged and myned. Ibid. xiv. ii. (Tollem. MS.), Noble metal is myned out of veynes of mounteynes. 1866 Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xxiii. 599 The Eastern produce [of tin] not being yet introduced into Europe, if indeed it were mined at that time. 1878 D. C. Davies Slate & Slate Quarrying 78 The stone is mined underground and brought up by shafts to the surface. 1878 Fraser's Mag. XVIII. 273 Lignite..is mined near Brousa. 1885 Manch. Exam. 10 July 5/3 Gold and other mineral wealth..are as yet not mined on any considerable scale. |
7. intr. To dig for the purpose of obtaining minerals, etc.; to make a mine; to work in a mine.
| ? c 1400 [see mineral n.1]. ? 1568 in Pettus Fodinæ Reg. (1670) 60 She grants unto them to search, dig, and mine for the Callamine stone in all places of England. 1677 Phil. Trans. XII. 912 The Earth they Mine in, is very red. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. v. 50 The workmen break off the rocks, and do not properly mine into them. 1819 Byron Juan i. cxxxii, Coals Are safely mined for. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxii, He considered Ramorny as one whom nature had assigned to him as a serf, to mine for the gold which he worshipped. |
8. trans. To dig in or penetrate for finding ore, metals, etc.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 748 Lead veins have been traced even further down,..but they have not been mined. 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 78 The..rich coalfield..of Westphalia: which, although mined..as early as 1302, has only within the last quarter of a century risen to a high degree of importance. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 2 Aug. 3/1 We must leave the reader to mine this rich quarry for himself. |
9. U.S. (See
quot. 1937.)
| 1937 Amer. Speech XII. 105 They mine the soil; that is, they use up fertility without restoring it. 1972 New Yorker 25 Nov. 42/3 When they moved here, the land had been farmed out—‘mined’, the local phrase was—and the one undiscouraged crop was the wild strawberries. |
Sense 9 in
Dict. becomes 10. Delete
quot. 1899 from sense 8 in
Dict. and add:
9. trans. fig. To exploit (
esp. an abundant source); to extract (an item of value) from an abundant source.
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 2 Aug. 3/1 We must leave the reader to mine this rich quarry for himself. a 1961 Sat. Rev. (U.S.) in Webster s.v., So far mined only a fraction of the cultural treasures of those times. 1988 Creative Rev. Jan. 15/2 The Americans have achieved the ultimate life-style approach, mining images that touch your senses and make you feel successful. 1995 GQ Jan. 74/2 The collective medical data of all hospitals will be mined for statistics to monitor the efficiency of drugs and treatments. |