land mine
noun
: a mine usually placed just below the surface of the ground and designed to be exploded usually by the weight of vehicles or troops passing over it
—often used figuratively
Every aspect of this scheme is a potential land mine.—
Henry A. Kissinger
Henry A. Kissingera political land mine
Synonyms
Examples of land mine in a Sentence
parents of teenagers never know when they might set off an emotional land mine
Recent Examples on the Web
But this conflict, with its hand-to-hand combat and profusion of land mines, feels like a throwback to the kind of civil war that was documented in black and white.
—Hannah Beech Adam Ferguson, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
Some of the country’s largest fields are located close to the frontline and, in many cases, are now covered in land mines and can’t be planted.
—Nataliya Gumenyuk, Foreign Affairs, 19 Apr. 2024
Worldwide, land mines killed approximately 1,600 people, the vast majority of them civilians, in 2022.
—Julie Tsirkin, NBC News, 20 Feb. 2024
Ukrainian refugees who want to return home are hesitant to do so because of the continuing threat of land mines.
—Julie Tsirkin, NBC News, 20 Feb. 2024
Russia’s ubiquitous land mines have blown legs or feet off thousands of Ukrainian men.
—Andrew E. Kramer, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2024
Bombs that failed to detonate became de facto land mines, which the Vietnamese government estimates have caused 100,000 deaths and injuries since the war’s end.
—Seth Mydans, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024
An inert land mine found in a storage unit in Jefferson County just south of Lakewood prompted a shelter-in-place order for a quarter of a mile surrounding Public Storage at 10201 W. Hampden Ave.
—Katie Langford, The Denver Post, 24 Jan. 2024
Russian troops have settled in on Ukrainian soil and littered eastern Ukraine with land mines, which injure and kill Ukrainian combatants and civilians alike even in areas that the Ukrainian army has won back.
—Eric Schmidt, Foreign Affairs, 22 Jan. 2024
Hannah Beech Adam Ferguson, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024
Some of the country’s largest fields are located close to the frontline and, in many cases, are now covered in land mines and can’t be planted.
—Nataliya Gumenyuk, Foreign Affairs, 19 Apr. 2024
Worldwide, land mines killed approximately 1,600 people, the vast majority of them civilians, in 2022.
—Julie Tsirkin, NBC News, 20 Feb. 2024
Ukrainian refugees who want to return home are hesitant to do so because of the continuing threat of land mines.
—Julie Tsirkin, NBC News, 20 Feb. 2024
Russia’s ubiquitous land mines have blown legs or feet off thousands of Ukrainian men.
—Andrew E. Kramer, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2024
Bombs that failed to detonate became de facto land mines, which the Vietnamese government estimates have caused 100,000 deaths and injuries since the war’s end.
—Seth Mydans, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024
An inert land mine found in a storage unit in Jefferson County just south of Lakewood prompted a shelter-in-place order for a quarter of a mile surrounding Public Storage at 10201 W. Hampden Ave.
—Katie Langford, The Denver Post, 24 Jan. 2024
Russian troops have settled in on Ukrainian soil and littered eastern Ukraine with land mines, which injure and kill Ukrainian combatants and civilians alike even in areas that the Ukrainian army has won back.
—Eric Schmidt, Foreign Affairs, 22 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'land mine.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near land mine
Cite this Entry
“Land mine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/land%20mine. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
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