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Glite Dictionary
floating mine

floating mine

8.2
A bomb that floats on water and explodes when a ship hits it
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : mina flotante
  • The ship's radar detected multiple floating mines, prompting the captain to maneuver away from the danger zone.

Examples

  • During the training exercise, the sailors practiced identifying floating mines that posed a threat to their ships.

  • You, uh, you still deactivating those floating mines?

    Easy Come, Easy Go (1967)

  • The naval operation aimed to locate and neutralize any floating mines in the shipping lane before the fleet arrived.

Synonyms

mine
vsfloating mine
86 8.1

An explosive device hidden on land or in water that explodes when touched

is specific to the sea surface and targets ships on contact
marine mine
vsfloating mine
  • Specialized
7.7

An underwater bomb placed to damage or sink ships

sits on the water surface and explodes when a ship collides with it

Surface Forms

floating mine singular
floating mines plural

Morphology

floating + mine

The meaning 'an explosive device that floats on water and detonates on contact' is directly derivable from combining 'floating' (remaining on the water's surface) with 'mine' (an explosive device). This adjective+noun composition follows regular English compounding patterns and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

The noun floating mine comes from a simple, dangerous image: a bomb called a mine that is floating on the water and drifting near ships. If a ship 'hits' it, the mine will 'explode', so the phrase means a floating bomb that can blow up and damage ships.