to strip-mine
1
7.2
- phrasal verb
- /ˈstrɪpˌmaɪn/
- Specialized
:
minar a cielo abierto
- The most significant environmental impact is the land requirement, which is about 10 acres per megawatt-electric of capacity (less than required for strip-mining and transportation of coal and for hydroelectric plants).
- want to strip-mine
- required for strip-mining
Examples
-
Environmentalists protested against the decision to strip-mine the land, arguing it would cause significant ecological damage.
-
The building had originally housed the offices of the strip-mining operation, but Toland had pressed it into service as his clubhouse for Squat Possums' first couple of decades.
Fiction book (2001) -
With no prospective future beyond children or a building named after you, there is precious little incentive to do something besides strip mine our common heritage for $.
Blog text (28) -
I've also seen strip-mining set-ups where giant machines literally ate the mountains away.
Blog text (14) -
People liked to say that strip-mining was the right business for him, that he was digging his way right down to hell, and that one day the devil would rise out of one of those coal pits and snatch him away.
Fiction book (2000) -
"There were four men in the group altogether, and they stood watching from an elevated tee built on a ridge that had once been part of a strip-mining tract.
Fiction book (2001) -
Two enormous coal shovels have already strip-mined thousands of acres, operating with a kind of ponderous precision, hollowing out the land to a depth of about twenty feet, and producing three million tons of lignite each year to feed a power plant whose stacks are visible to the south.
Academic text (2004) -
The company plans to strip-mine a large area to access the rich coal deposits beneath the surface.
-
They will strip-mine the hillside to extract minerals needed for the new construction project.
Synonyms
21
4.0
To take metals or minerals from the ground by digging
1
6.0
To remove earth and rock from the ground to get coal or other minerals
To remove large areas of earth and rock to get minerals near the surface
Antonyms
How Extensive
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Strip-mine comes from the simple parts strip ('to take off') and mine ('place to dig for coal or minerals'). It describes removing the top layers of soil or rock so people can reach the minerals, so to strip-mine is to strip the surface to get resources.