mine pig
- noun
- Archaic
:
hierro de mina
- They analyzed samples of mine pig to ensure it contained no recycled material.
Examples
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The foundry ordered a shipment of mine pig for the next production phase.
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Due to its purity, mine pig is preferred in certain metallurgical processes.
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The factory produces mine pigs for steel manufacturing.
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A mine pig is essential for our production process.
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Due to its purity, mine pig is preferred in certain metallurgical processes.
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The foundry ordered a shipment of mine pig for the next production phase.
-
They analyzed samples of mine pig to ensure it contained no recycled material.
Synonyms
22
9.7
A large piece of metal made by pouring melted metal into a mold
1
4.9
People pour hot iron from a furnace into bars to be made into steel later
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound combines 'mine' (to extract from ore) with 'pig' (a cast metal ingot), so a B1 learner who knows those constituent senses can infer it denotes a pig iron product coming directly from mined ore. The precise technical nuance about excluding scrap is a specialist detail, but the basic compositional meaning is transparent and predictable from the parts.
Etymology
The compound noun mine pig may come from the old image of hot liquid iron poured into a row of small molds that looked like little pigs, which gave the metal the name pig. The word mine shows the iron came straight 'from ore' at the mine and not from scrap metal, so mine pig means 'pig iron' made directly from ore, pure and without scrap.