minefield

noun

mine·field | \ˈmīn-ˌfēld

\

Definition of minefield

1 : an area (as of water or land) set with mines

2 : something resembling a minefield especially in having many dangers or requiring extreme caution a political minefield

Examples of minefield in a Sentence

This issue is a political minefield.

Recent Examples on the Web

But mouse and keyboard support is certainly a minefield for gamers and developers alike: Should devs include it, and create special queues for PC gamers and console gamers to play together? — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Report: Microsoft, Razer push to bring mouse and keyboard support to Xbox," 25 June 2018 But at Friday’s Turner town hall in Atlanta, Stankey may have meandered a bit too close to a minefield in conveying that same point. — Joe Pompeo, The Hive, "“How’s He Gonna React When There’s a Scandal?”: CNN Begins Its New Day Under John Stankey," 26 June 2018 But the two with the most at stake politically — U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and Republican Gov. Rick Scott — stepped lightly, hoping to avoid any political minefields in their exceedingly close 2018 election contest. — Anthony Man, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Florida leaders divided over Trump nominee Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court," 10 July 2018 And that was before the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant families at the border became the latest minefield in the race. — Matt Flegenheimer, New York Times, "Ted Cruz Is Running Again. Trump Is Still Making Things Complicated.," 21 June 2018 Conferences, where she was expected to book client meetings from morning to midnight, were particular minefields. — Julie Steinberg, WSJ, "Difficult Conversation: When the Harasser Is a Client," 6 July 2018 While the authors use the metaphor of a trap to describe the butterfly's situation, a minefield might be more accurate. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "How one man’s death led to the extinction of a butterfly population," 10 May 2018 In Eighth Grade, middle school is a minefield of mundane horrors. — Rebecca Farley, refinery29.com, "The Stars Of Eighth Grade Relive Their Middle School Horror Stories," 13 July 2018 But with midterm elections looming, the question remains whether enough members of Congress are willing to navigate the political minefield of immigration reform. — Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN, "How one month reshaped the US immigration landscape," 3 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'minefield.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about minefield

Dictionary Entries near minefield

Statistics for minefield

Last Updated

24 Sep 2018

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for minefield

The first known use of minefield was in 1884

See more words from the same year

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for minefield

minefield

noun

English Language Learners Definition of minefield

: an area of land or water that contains mines (sense 2)

: something that has many dangers or risks

See the full definition for minefield in the English Language Learners Dictionary

Keep scrolling for more

Comments on minefield

What made you want to look up minefield? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

superjacent

lying above or upon

Test Your Vocabulary

Words from Greek and Roman Mythology Quiz

Boreal comes from the name of the ancient Greek god of which wind?

Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games