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

Their mining and processing can also release metals and other contaminants into surrounding environments. — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 21 Sep. 2026

On Saturday, the Nigerian government named a 10-member committee drawn from the legal, security, mining and medical professions, and announced the suspension of 20 more NSCDC personnel. — ABC News, 20 Sep. 2026

Researchers have confirmed the cat only in Bolivia so far and warn its cloud-forest habitat, already pressured by deforestation and gold mining, needs protection. — Paola Flores, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2026

Recently, the president of Kazakhstan allowed an American company to come in and have unlimited tungsten mining rights. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 18 Sep. 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