mint
mint — noun
1. a green plant with leaves that have a strong cool taste and a fresh smell, used
a green plant with leaves that have a strong cool taste and a fresh smell, used to add flavour to food, drinks, and products such as toothpaste.
Min added fresh mint leaves to the lemonade for a cool summer drink.
collocation: fresh mint / mint leaves
The recipe requires mint sauce to go with the roast lamb.
collocation: mint sauce
Élise grows mint in a pot on her kitchen windowsill all year round.
Peppermint and spearmint are the two most common types of mint found in supermarkets.
Ari ordered a cup of hot mint tea after the meal.
- peppermint
a specific type of mint with a stronger, more pungent flavour; often used in sweets and teas
- spearmint
the most common culinary mint, milder than peppermint, used in savoury dishes and drinks
文法句型
mint as a countable plant species
mint as an uncountable herb/leaf
2. a small sweet or candy that has a strong cool taste of mint oil, often eaten aft
a small sweet or candy that has a strong cool taste of mint oil, often eaten after a meal to freshen the breath.
Henry offered me a mint after dinner to freshen my breath.
The box of chocolates had a soft green mint in the middle.
noun form: a mint (single sweet)
Rachid always keeps a packet of sugar-free mints in his car.
Omar sucked on a mint while waiting for the job interview to begin.
- breath mint
specifically designed to freshen breath, often less sweet
- peppermint
a mint-flavoured sweet made with peppermint oil; can also refer to the plant itself
文法句型
a mint / two mints
packet of mints
3. a government building or factory where metal coins and sometimes medals or bankn
a government building or factory where metal coins and sometimes medals or banknotes are officially produced.
The Royal Mint produces all the coins used in the United Kingdom.
proper noun: the Royal Mint
The mint in Philadelphia has been striking coins since 1792.
capitalised when referring to a specific institution
Security at the national mint is extremely tight because of the gold stored there.
Ingrid visited the old mint building on the school trip and watched coins being stamped.
- coin factory
a descriptive term for any facility that makes coins; less official-sounding than 'mint'
文法句型
the Mint (proper noun for a specific institution)
用法筆記
Often capitalised (the Mint) when referring to a specific national institution such as the Royal Mint or the US Mint.
4. so much cash that it counts as a fortune — the word appears only in the singular
so much cash that it counts as a fortune — the word appears only in the singular fixed phrase a mint, as in cost a mint or make a mint.
Pim made a mint selling his apartment in Tokyo just before the market dropped.
fixed expression: make a mint (= earn a lot of money)
The company paid a mint for that thirty-second Super Bowl advertisement.
That vintage car collection must be worth an absolute mint.
Ravindra's grandmother owned a small shop that made a mint during the festival season.
文法句型
a mint
make a mint
cost a mint
worth a mint
用法筆記
Always used in the singular 'a mint'. The plural 'mints' in the money sense does not exist — it only refers to the sweets or the factories.
常見錯誤
mint — adjective
1. describing a stamp, coin, or other collectible item that has never been used and
describing a stamp, coin, or other collectible item that has never been used and looks exactly as it did when it was first made.
The collector paid top price for a mint stamp from 1850.
attributive use: mint stamp
Dewi owns a mint copy of the first Superman comic from 1938.
The banknote was still mint, crisp and completely untouched.
Asher found mint coins at the estate sale, still in their original packaging.
- unused
simpler, more general term for stamps/coins; lacks the collector-market prestige of 'mint'
文法句型
mint + noun (stamp/coin)
still mint
用法筆記
Most commonly used of postage stamps and coins. For other items the phrase 'mint condition' (sense 2 below) is more natural.
2. in perfect physical condition, looking or working as well as when it was new — u
in perfect physical condition, looking or working as well as when it was new — used especially of used goods, cars, books, clothing, and collectibles.
Christopher bought a used car that was in mint condition with only ten thousand miles.
key phrase: in mint condition
The novel is almost fifty years old but the pages are still in mint condition.
Sofia found a mint vintage leather jacket at the charity shop for twenty dollars.
Lara sold her mint condition camera online for almost the same price she paid new.
- pristine
more formal; suggests untouched and unspoiled, often of natural or manufactured things
- flawless
focuses on absence of defects rather than newness
- immaculate
emphasises perfect cleanliness and the absence of any marks
文法句型
in mint condition
mint + noun
用法筆記
The fixed phrase 'in mint condition' is by far the most common use of this sense. It can modify nouns directly ('a mint-condition car') or follow the verb 'to be' ('the car is mint').
常見錯誤
mint — verb
1. to make coins, medals, or banknotes from metal at an official factory by stampin
to make coins, medals, or banknotes from metal at an official factory by stamping or pressing.
The government minted a special set of gold coins to celebrate the Olympic Games.
active: government minted coins
Silver coins are minted only when the price of silver makes production worthwhile.
passive: coins are minted
Ziad's grandfather helped mint pennies at the national mint for over thirty years.
A newly minted one-pound coin features a different design on each side.
文法句型
mint + coin/medal/note
be minted (passive)
newly minted
用法筆記
The participle 'newly minted' is also used metaphorically for someone who has just graduated or started a new role ('a newly minted doctor').
2. to create a new word, phrase, or expression that people begin to use in everyday
to create a new word, phrase, or expression that people begin to use in everyday language.
The term 'staycation' was minted around 2005 to describe holidays spent at home.
passive: term was minted + time reference
Iris minted the phrase 'digital nomad' in her blog post about remote work in 2015.
Many new technology-related words are minted every year in Silicon Valley.
The advertising agency minted a catchy slogan that soon appeared on billboards nationwide.
文法句型
mint + word/phrase/term
be minted (passive)
用法筆記
Distinguish from the fixed idiom 'coin a phrase' (meaning 'to use a well-known expression, often ironically'). 'Mint a phrase' is not a fixed idiom — 'mint' here means to create something new in the language, while 'coin a phrase' is a set expression that always uses 'coin'.