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Meaning of salt the mine | Babel Free

Verb CEFR C1

Definitions

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see salt, the, mine.
  2. To set up a confidence trick; to plant false evidence of the value of something.
    broadly

Examples

“He then discovered that Lovell had salted the mine with ore from the Little Pittsburgh.”
“They then salted the “mine” with these gems, which the first expert dug up and brought to San Francisco.”
“Smith had merely dug a shaft, salted the mine with a good grade ore, in order to lure Jeremiah into purchasing.”
“"Ferraz then salted the mine with the quality diamonds from Angola," Kubu continued, "making it look as though De Beers had made a mistake."”
“"Yes. I thought it would be a shrewd move to salt the mine." I didn't get this. She seemed to me an aunt who was talking in riddles.”
““Salting the mine. We'll salt the mine.” Egan still didn't seem to understand. “You college boys, all that training and you can't see the nose on your face. We'll plant a body.””
“Historians are duty bound never to salt the mine of history by the creation of ersatz facts introduced to fulfill their preconceived ideas.”
“His rationale was the same: these were amenities that a salesperson needed to salt the mine and make the right impression on customers.”

CEFR level

C1
Advanced
This word is part of the CEFR C1 vocabulary — advanced level.

See also

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