Meaning & use
land mine
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Meanings
nouncountable
An explosive weapon hidden in or just under the ground that goes off when someone or something touches or passes over it.
Grammar: Also spelled landmine; often plural when describing a danger zone.
Patterns
- step on a land mine
- clear land mines
The farmer lost his leg when he stepped on a land mine.
Teams spent years clearing land mines from the old border.
Warning signs showed where land mines had been laid.
nouncountablefigurative
A hidden danger or tricky issue that can cause serious trouble if you do not notice it or handle it with care.
Grammar: Used figuratively, often with a place or topic: a political land mine.
Patterns
- a land mine for someone
- step on a land mine
The contract was full of legal land mines.
Family politics can be a land mine at holiday dinners.
The new tax rules are a land mine for small businesses.
Word forms
| plural | land mines |
|---|
Common combinations
- step on a land mine
- A cow stepped on a land mine near the road.
- clear land mines
- Volunteers helped clear land mines after the war.
- buried land mine
- A buried land mine was found beneath the track.
- ban land mines
- Many countries signed a treaty to ban land mines.
- political land mine
- Immigration became a political land mine for the candidate.
- navigate a land mine
- She had to navigate a land mine of office gossip.
Synonyms and how they differ
- booby trap
- It is any hidden device set to harm someone who disturbs it, while a land mine is buried and explodes under pressure.
- pitfall
- It means a hidden difficulty and is milder than the figurative land mine, which suggests big consequences.
- minefield
- It names an area full of mines or a situation full of dangers, while a land mine is a single one.
- hazard
- It is any source of danger and does not suggest something hidden.
Word family
Commonly confused: land mine or landmark?
land mine vs landmark
A landmark is a prominent feature that helps you find your way or marks an event. A land mine is a hidden explosive.
Practice
The negotiator warned that the proposal contained a ______ that could blow up the entire deal. Which choice keeps the figurative meaning?
Choose one answer.
A land mine figuratively means a hidden danger. A landmark is a notable feature, so it does not suggest threat.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “land mine”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.