See Also: Mine(medicine)
mine(dictionary)
mine(2)(dictionary)
mine(1)(dictionary)
S-mine(dictionary)
Mine and yours(finance)
strip mine(dictionary)
mine 3, verb(dictionary)
mine 2, noun(dictionary)
mine 1, pronoun(dictionary)

mine(1) (iou)



mine noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French (perh. from miner MINE verb) or directly from MINE verb.]
An excavation or a system of excavations in the earth for the extraction of metal, metallic ore, coal, salt, etc. ME.
B. Byars Friends were working the mine, digging out turquoise. B. Moore The great moonlit slag heaps of the Gorodok mines.coalmine, diamond mine, salt mine, tin mine, etc.
b. fig. An abundant source or supply. M16.
D. H. Lawrence The courage of our own feelings..becomes a mine of practical truth. B. Gilroy They..found her a mine of information.
c. transf. A subterranean cavity. Only in E17.
A mineral; ore. Now only spec., iron ore. ME.
Military.
a. A subterranean passage dug under an enemy position (esp. the wall of a besieged fortress) in order to gain entrance or (later esp. with the use of an explosive) to collapse a wall or fortification. Also, the explosive charge placed in such a passage. LME.
b. A receptacle containing explosive placed in or on the ground or in the water with the purpose of destroying enemy personnel, ships, etc. Freq. with specifying word. LME.
limpet mine, magnetic mine, pressure mine, etc.
B. Mason His jeep passed over a mine; wreckage was strewn over a wide area.
A firework propelling crackers into the air. Now rare. M18.
A tunnel or network of tunnels made in the interior of a leaf by an insect larva. M19.
Comb.: mine-car a wheeled container used in a mine for the underground transport of coal etc.; mine-detector an instrument for detecting the presence of explosive mines; mine-dump S. Afr. a large mound or hill of mining waste at the surface of a mine, esp. a gold-mine, or former mine; minefield (a) an area laid with explosive mines; (b) fig. a situation or subject presenting unseen hazards; mine-hunt verb intrans. hunt or sweep for mines; mine-hunter = minesweeper below; mine-iron = mine-pig below; minelayer a ship or aircraft equipped to lay explosive mines; mine-laying noun & adjective (a) noun the operation of laying explosive mines; (b) adjective that lays explosive mines; mine-pig pig-iron made from mine or ore; mine-pit a pit or shaft in a mine; mine shaft: giving access to a mine; mine-sinker a device for keeping a mine submerged; mine-stone ore, esp. iron ore; minesweeper a ship for clearing away floating and submarine mines; mine-sweeping noun & adjective (a) noun the operation of clearing away floating or submarine mines; (b) adjective that clears away floating or submarine mines; mine tin: worked out of the lode; mine-town (= mining town s.v. MINING verbal noun): whose population consists chiefly of miners; mine-work = sense 1 above.