Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), the most common pathological type of oral cancer, is still a frequent malignancy with unsatisfactory prognosis. Accumulating studies have proven some microRNAs (miRNAs) can function as oncogenes in OSCC by targeting tumor suppressors. In this study, we first investigated the expression and role of tumor suppressor bridging integrator-1 (BIN1) in OSCC tissues and cells. Our results indicated that BIN1 was low expressed in the OSCC tissues and cell lines (SCC6, SCC9, SCC25, HN4, and HN6) along with miR-211 was highly expressed in OSCC tissues and cell lines, and BIN1 overexpression could evidently inhibit their proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities. Next, we used bioinformation algorithms to predict the potential miRNA targeting BIN1 and chose miR-211 for further study. miR-211, a highly expressed miRNA in OSCC cells, could specifically bind with the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of BIN1 to trigger its degradation. Addition of miR-211 inhibitor could evidently suppress the malignant behaviors of OSCC cells by upregulating BIN1 expression and inhibit the activation of the EGFR/MAPK pathway. Taken together the findings of the study indicated that miR-211 mediated BIN1 downregulation had crucial significances in OSCC, suggesting the miR-211 might be a novel potential therapeutic target for the OSCC treatment. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.