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definitions

gold fever

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noun

greed and excitement caused by a gold rush.

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Origin of gold fever

First recorded in 1840–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gold fever

Historical Examples of gold fever

  • The gold-fever was hot in their blood; and they were deaf and blind to all but the digging man.

    The Cave of Gold

    Everett McNeil

  • "You shore have got the gold-fever an' got it bad," laughed Ham.

    The Cave of Gold

    Everett McNeil

  • During my stay in Melbourne the gold-fever was at its height.

  • In vain he tried to persuade his mates to follow suit, but the gold-fever had taken too strong a hold upon them.

  • While he was doing this, he suddenly felt tug after tug on his line—frenzied pulls that woke him from his gold-fever instantly.

    The Pirate Shark

    Elliott Whitney