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forty-niner

[ fawr-tee-nahy-ner ]
/ ˌfɔr tiˈnaɪ nər /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR forty-niner ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person, especially a prospector, who went to California in 1849 during the gold rush.

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RELATED WORDS

bloodsucker, leech, parasite, sponge, user, exploiter, mineworker

Nearby words

  1. forty-first,
  2. forty-five,
  3. forty-four,
  4. forty-fourth,
  5. forty-nine,
  6. forty-niners,
  7. forty-ninth,
  8. forty-ninth parallel,
  9. forty-one,
  10. forty-second

Origin of forty-niner

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for forty-niner

British Dictionary definitions for forty-niner

forty-niner

noun

(sometimes capital) US history a prospector who took part in the California gold rush of 1849
49er a type of dinghy, designed to be crewed by two people
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012