mine

alternative obsolete myne

1. That or those belonging to me.
   1. Used predicatively.

      These books are mine.

      2 more examples

      The house itself is mine, but the land is not.

      Ah, but how beautiful (my baby boy) is! And he is mine, mine for ever. Even if he hates me he will be mine. He cannot help it, he is made out of me; I am his father.

      1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 7

   2. Used substantively, with an implied noun.

      Mine has been a long journey.

      1 more example

      ‘My name’s Felix Leiter,’ said the American. ‘Glad to meet you.’ ‘Mine’s Bond - James Bond.’

      1953, Ian Fleming, “Rouge et Noir”, in Casino Royale, London: Pan Books, published 1955, page 50

   3. Used absolutely, set off from the sentence.

      Mine for only a week so far, it already feels like an old friend.

   4. informalMy house or home.

      We had the party at mine.

   5. As double possessive.

      You have something of mine.

      1 more example

      This house of mine is over 100 years old.

alternative obsolete myne

1. archaicnonstandardMy; belonging to me.

   Beg not for mercy. Behold, blackened sky. Against mine chaos, even gods will die!

   2023 December 18, “Galactus VS Unicron (Marvel Comics VS Transformers)” (16:08 from the start), in DEATH BATTLE!, season 10, episode 16, spoken by Unicron (Brent Mukai)

   1 more example

   Well, then, fix it up nice, waiter, and make mine baked hash an’ mashed ’taters and stewed corn and waiter!—plain white bread, no fancy rolls!

   1936 December 23, Hazel Livingston, “‘Love’s Litany’”, in Walter V. Hogan, editor, The Daily Reporter, volume XX, number 53, White Plains, N.Y.: White Plains Publishing Company, →OCLC, chapter IX, page 18, column 4

   1. archaicnonstandardUsed attributively after the noun it modifies.

      […] Flesh and blood, / You, brother mine, that entertain'd ambition, / […]

      1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]

   2. archaicnonstandardUsed attributively before a vowel.

      1930 Winter, Packard Motor Car Company, The Packard Magazine, Volume 9, Number 2, page 6, Mine host, it seemed, did favors for everybody...

      1 more example

      Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: / […]

      1862 February, Julia Ward Howe, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, in The Atlantic Monthly, volume IX, number LII, page 10

plural mines

1. An excavation from which ore or solid minerals are taken, especially one consisting of underground tunnels.

   Meronyms: mine shaft, mineshaft; mine car

   3 more examples

   This diamond comes from a mine in South Africa.

   He came out of the coal mine with a face covered in black.

   Most coal and ore comes from open-pit mines nowadays.

2. figurativelyAny source of wealth or resources.

   She's a mine of information about the history of mathematics.

   1 more example

   To those seeking information about train services on the Continent, Cook's Continental Guide is always a mine of accurate information.

   1962 December, “Beyond the Channel: U.S.S.R.: Train speeds still rising”, in Modern Railways, page 418

3. governmentA passage dug toward or underneath enemy lines, which is then packed with explosives.

   The most famous mine of the American Civil War led to the Battle of the Crater.

4. governmentA device intended to explode when stepped upon or touched, or when approached by a ship, vehicle, or person.

   Holonym: minefield

   3 more examples

   His left leg was blown off after he stepped on a mine.

   The warship was destroyed by floating mines.

   Pack ice, at times mounting to a height of 35 ft., snow, fog, and floating mines all played their part in the disorganisation of railway services, and most of the train ferry services were completely suspended for a month or more; [...].

   1940 May, “Overseas Railways: Icebound Denmark”, in Railway Magazine, page 302

5. pyrotechnicsA type of firework that explodes on the ground, shooting sparks upward.
6. biologyThe cavity made by a caterpillar while feeding inside a leaf.
7. computingA machine or network of machines used to extract units of a cryptocurrency.

   A change to the blockchain method was contemplated to allow mines to hog less electric power.

present singular third person mines · participle present mining · participle past mined · past mined

1. ambitransitiveTo remove (rock or ore) from the ground.

   Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only place in the world where visitors can mine their own diamonds.

2. To dig into, for ore or metal.

   Lead veins have been traced […] but they have not been mined.

   1837, Andrew Ure, Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines

3. transitiveTo sow mines (the explosive devices) in (an area).

   We had to slow our advance after the enemy mined the road ahead of us.

4. transitiveTo damage (a vehicle or ship) with a mine (an explosive device).
5. intransitiveTo dig a tunnel or hole; to burrow in the earth.

   the mining cony

6. To dig away, or otherwise remove, the substratum or foundation of; to lay a mine under; to sap; to undermine.

   They mined the walls.

   a. 1628 (date written), John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press, and J. Lichfield at Oxford?] for Iohn Partridge, […], published 1630, →OCLC

   1 more example

   Too lazy, perhaps, to cut [these immense trees] down, the spoilers […] had mined them, and placed a quantity of gunpowder in the cavity.

   1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC

7. broadlyfigurativelyTo ruin or destroy by slow degrees or secret means.
8. broadlyfigurativelyTo tap into.
9. slangTo pick one's nose.
10. businessTo earn new units of cryptocurrency by doing certain calculations.

    Bitcoin supporters say that estimates of its carbon footprint are overstated. And if the computers that mine and help transact bitcoins are attached to an electric grid that uses wind and solar power, they add, mining and using it will become cleaner over time.

    2021 March 9, Andrew Ross Sorkin, “Bitcoin's Climate Problem”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

plural mines

1. alternativeAlternative form of mien.

1. honorificHonorific alternative letter-case form of mine, sometimes used when referring to God or another important figure who is understood from context.