strip mining
2
5.3
- noun
- /strɪp ˈmaɪnɪŋ/
- Specialized
:
minería a cielo abierto
- Strip mining had peaked outside of Frenchburg, Kentucky, in the late sixties and early seventies and then began falling off.
- strip mining for coal
Examples
-
Many communities are fighting against strip mining to preserve their land and water sources.
-
He directed them to the north, where there had been extensive strip mining, and the land had been left mostly barren.
Fiction book (1992) -
When you drive through that country, you can see examples of strip mining, clear cutting.
-
The mountains are to be opened up for strip mining.
Academic text (2002) -
Your landscapes will be altered by strip mining.
Blog text (14) -
Strip mining for coal has devastated hundreds of square miles of landscape.
Academic text (1992) -
In eastern Kentucky, strip mining is rapidly replacing deep mining just as it occurred in County Durham.
Academic text (1994) -
Strip mining, or open-cast mining as the British refer to it, has nearly ceased in Durham.
Academic text (1994) -
The environmental impact of strip mining can lead to significant habitat destruction.
-
In the past few decades, strip mining has become a controversial method for extracting minerals from the earth.
Synonyms
191
2.7
Taking minerals like coal or metal from under the ground
1
8.8
The work of digging or taking minerals from the ground for use
A way of taking minerals like coal from a large open pit in the ground
How Extensive
- UK
- Specialized
2
5.3
- Specialized
- Specialized
3
7.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is directly compositional: 'strip' (to remove) combined with 'mining' (extracting minerals) yields the process of removing surface material to reach ore or coal. This is a literal, cross-linguistically common construction, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Strip mining gets its name from the word strip because workers 'strip' away long bands of soil and rock to reach the coal or minerals under the ground. So the phrase means 'removing large areas of earth' to get those minerals.