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Glite Dictionary
strip miner

strip miner

7.4
A person who removes topsoil and rock with large machines to get coal or minerals
  • noun
  • /strɪp ˈmaɪnər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : minero a cielo abierto
  • After the strip miner finished his shift, the once thick forest was laid bare.

Examples

  • The strip miner worked long hours to extract coal from the surface of the earth.

  • All too familiar are the scarred landscapes that are frequently left by land developers, strip miners, and highway builders who proceed with little or no regard for erosion or siltation control.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Many strip miners face criticism for the environmental impact of their work.

Synonyms

miner
vsstrip miner
313 2.3

A person who works in a mine to take coal or minerals from the ground

works on the surface removing large soil and rock to reach deposits
mineworker
vsstrip miner
1 3.3

A person who works in a mine to take out coal or minerals

works on the surface removing large layers of soil and rock to access deposits

Surface Forms

strip miner singular
strip miners plural

Morphology

strip + miner

The meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'strip' (remove a covering or layer) + 'miner' (a person who mines) yields a miner who removes surface layers to extract minerals. This is a productive noun-compound/agent pattern common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

The noun strip miner comes from a simple image: the word strip refers to long 'strips' of soil or rock that are cut away, and miner is the person who removes the minerals. So, a strip miner is someone who digs minerals from the 'surface' by taking away those strips of earth.