Meaning & use
ore
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountabletechnical
A natural rock or mineral that contains enough metal to make mining and extracting that metal worthwhile.
Grammar: Usually uncountable (iron ore); countable when comparing types: different ores.
Patterns
- ore of something
- an ore of something
The mine produces tons of iron ore each year.
Copper ore is crushed and heated to separate the metal.
Different ores need different methods of extraction.
Word forms
| plural | ores |
|---|
Common combinations
- iron ore
- Iron ore is shipped by rail to the steel plant.
- mine ore
- Workers mine ore deep underground.
- smelt ore
- The ore is smelted at very high temperatures.
- ore deposit
- Geologists found a rich ore deposit under the hill.
- high-grade ore
- High-grade ore contains a large share of metal.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mineral
- Mineral is a wider scientific term for any natural solid substance, while ore is a mineral or rock valued for the metal in it.
- rock
- Rock is the everyday term for any hard natural material and says nothing about metal content.
- raw material
- Raw material covers any unprocessed input in industry, whereas ore refers specifically to metal-bearing rock.
Word family
Commonly confused: ore or oar? ore or or?
ore vs oar
An oar is a flat-bladed pole used to row a boat; it sounds the same as ore in most accents but has nothing to do with metal.
ore vs or
Or is a conjunction offering a choice, while ore is a noun for metal-bearing rock.
Practice
Which word completes the sentence: "The company ships iron ____ to steel mills around the world."
Choose one answer.
Ore is the metal-bearing rock. Oar sounds the same but means a rowing pole, and or is a conjunction.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ore”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.