Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To frustrate or defeat by secret and opposite measures.
- intransitive verb To make or use a countermine against.
- intransitive verb To make or lay down countermines.
- noun A tunnel dug to intercept and destroy an enemy's mine.
- noun A plot to frustrate or defeat an attack.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Milit., a mine driven from defense-works by the besieged, counter to a mine driven toward the defense-works by besiegers, the object being to meet and destroy the works of the latter party.
- noun Hence A secret plan designed to frustrate the plans of an opponent; any antagonistic action or plan.
- noun A mine or torpedo placed and exploded in a harbor entrance by an attacking navy to destroy the mines or torpedoes which guard the entrance.
- To mine counter or in opposition to; resist by means of a countermine, as a besieging enemy or his works.
- To counterwork; frustrate by secret and opposite measures.
- To make a countermine; counterplot; work against one secretly.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Mil.) An underground gallery excavated to intercept and destroy the mining of an enemy.
- noun A stratagem or plot by which another sratagem or project is defeated.
- transitive verb (Mil.) To oppose by means of a countermine; to intercept with a countermine.
- transitive verb To frustrate or counteract by secret measures.
- intransitive verb To make a countermine or counterplot; to plot secretly.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
mine used by defenders to intercept an enemy mine ortunnel . - verb To
plot opposition ; tofrustrate theinitiatives of another.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb destroy enemy mines with one's own mines
- noun (military) a tunnel dug to defeat similar activities by the enemy
- verb destroy property or hinder normal operations
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Keep a good lookout for the countermine which is now working against the good advice of his Majesty for mutual toleration.
PG Edition of Netherlands series — Complete John Lothrop Motley 1845
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Keep a good lookout for the countermine which is now working against the good advice of his Majesty for mutual toleration.
Life and Death of John of Barneveld, Advocate of Holland : with a view of the primary causes and movements of the Thirty Years' War — Complete (1609-15) John Lothrop Motley 1845
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Keep a good lookout for the countermine which is now working against the good advice of his Majesty for mutual toleration.
Life and Death of John of Barneveld, Advocate of Holland : with a view of the primary causes and movements of the Thirty Years' War, 1609-14 John Lothrop Motley 1845
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Keep a good lookout for the countermine which is now working against the good advice of his Majesty for mutual toleration.
Life and Death of John of Barneveld — Complete (1609-1623) John Lothrop Motley 1845
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Mingle in their follies, and see they cover not deeper designs under the appearance of female levity — if they do mine, do thou countermine.
The Abbot 2008
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Post-cold-war subjects have been inserted into the curriculum, such as "countermine operations," to instruct Central American soldiers on clearing the 130,000 mines laid during the wars of the 1980s, and "resource management," a euphemism for teaching Latin officers to keep their hands out of the till.
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The question set a light to a train — and angry suspicions were blazing up one after another, but Amyas silenced them with a countermine.
Westward Ho! 2007
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I think such a thing would actually countermine a lot of his message, which was that nature could be approachable by anyone.
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But Gertrude had no doubt that she was closely watched, and in these circumstances was driven to think how she could best use her wits so as to countermine her father.
Ayala's Angel 2004
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The reader will pardon a digression in which so invaluable a secret is communicated, since every gamester will agree how necessary it is to know exactly the play of another, in order to countermine him.
yarb commented on the word countermine
Citation on sharper.
September 18, 2008