mining

1 of 2

noun

min·​ing ˈmī-niŋ 

1

: the process or business of working mines

… even in the best of times coal mining was a boom-and-bust industry tied to the health of the wider economy.

—Dan Kaufman

—often used before another noun

a mining town

mining operations

2

: a process by which the solving of a complex mathematical puzzle verifies a set of cryptocurrency transactions, enters that set into the relevant blockchain, and releases new units of that cryptocurrency into circulation

In the cryptocurrency industry, crypto mining means adding new blocks of data to a blockchain. Cryptocurrency miners have to find a solution to a complex mathematical problem before they can create a new block. They are then rewarded with newly-created coins of cryptocurrency.

—Bitstamp.net

The transaction is then added to the blockchain—a secure, perpetually generating ledger of transactions. As more transactions are conducted, however, the mining difficulty increases and requires greater computing power.

—David Green and Siddhartha Kazi

see also:

data mining

mining

2 of 2

present participle of mine entry 4

Examples of mining in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Among the other vessels that Italy is paying to keep is the Lady M, a sleek 210-foot superyacht owned by Alexei Mordashov, a Putin associate and majority shareholder in Severstal, Russia’s largest steel and mining company. — Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2026

That abundance could reduce dependence on lithium mining and price fluctuations. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 1 Nov. 2026

Canada has the resources and mining expertise Europe needs, while Europe offers industrial demand, technology and capital. — ABC News, 29 Oct. 2026

Russia’s 2027-29 budget and new tax hikes would draw more revenue from mining companies and wealthier citizens as military spending strains public finances. — David McHugh, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing mining

• data mining

Rhymes for mining

• dining
• fining
• lining
• pining
• shining
• signing
• twining
• vining
• whining
• aligning
• assigning
• calcining

Kids Definition

mining

noun

min·​ing

ˈmī-niŋ

: the process or business of working mines