how to say “land mine” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/מוקש-#.m4a” /]מוֹקֵשׁ

If you’ve been hiking before in the Golan Heights, you may have seen a sign like the one pictured here:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/מוקש-#.m4a” /]מוקשים – ה(י)זהר!

Mines – take caution!

The word מוקש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/מוקש-#.m4a” /] first appears in the Bible, where it refers to a snare – something meant to sabotage someone along their way. Its root is י.ק.ש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/מוקש-#.m4a” /].

Here’s the word in a conversational context:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/מוקש-#.m4a” /]זהירות! יש כאן שדה מוקשים.

Be careful, there’s a mine field here!