strip mine

noun

: a mine that is worked from the earth's surface by the stripping of overburden
especially : a coal mine situated along the outcrop of a flat dipping bed
strip-mine verb
strip miner noun

Examples of strip mine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The viewer floats over slums, a strip mine, an artisanal sulfur mine. Carolina A. Miranda, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2023 There isn’t an inch on this planet that some craven rich person won’t figure out how to strip mine. Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2023 The trucks had already made their first bauxite delivery of the day to the port and were returning to the strip mines for more. Rachel Chason and Chloe Sharrock, Anchorage Daily News, 27 Apr. 2023 The strip mine’s owner, Blackjewel, fixed some problems, but when the rains came again, so did the muddy flooding. Ken Ward Jr., ProPublica, 26 Apr. 2023 In 2012, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation began introducing Rocky Mountain elk, a close cousin to eastern elk, to the region, and today, nearly 300 stately elk roam the rugged landscape of Buchanan County, inhabiting a 2,600-acre elk restoration zone on a reclaimed strip mine site. Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2020 The sites include a 26-acre reclaimed ash disposal site in Berkeley County, a 51-acre site adjacent to a Mon Power substation in Hancock County, a 95-acre site in Monongalia County and a 44-acre reclaimed strip mine property in Tucker County. From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 30 Nov. 2021 The blue-chip power company had been granted the right to transform the small farming community into the same moonscape found at RWE’s nearby Garzweiler strip mine, where heavy equipment continuously scars the earth in search of the impure coal. Bychristiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 16 Jan. 2023 Some went as far as making unsubstantiated claims that the bog project was a coverup for a strip mine. Daniel Kool, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'strip mine.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1926, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of strip mine was in 1926

Dictionary Entries Near strip mine

Cite this Entry

“Strip mine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strip%20mine. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

strip mine

noun
: a mine that is worked from the earth's surface by the stripping away of covering material
strip-mine verb
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