gold mine

noun

1. a mine yielding gold.

2. a source of great wealth or profit, or any desirable thing.

3. a copious source or reserve of something required.

   a gold mine of information about antiques.

gold mine

noun

1. a place where gold ore is mined

2. a source of great wealth, profit, etc

Other Word Forms

• gold-miner noun
• gold-mining noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of gold mine¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75

Idioms and Phrases

A rich, plentiful source of wealth or some other desirable thing, as in That business proved to be a gold mine, or She's a gold mine of information about the industry. [First half of 1800s]

Example Sentences

The kids from school don’t see dashikis as exactly fashion-forward—they see them as a gold mine for insults they think are clever.

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Her childhood is an endless gold mine to draw from and build upon, and in her work, she tries to reconnect people to childlike joy.

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The argument over the value of credit default swaps on subprime mortgage bonds—a complex security whose value was derived from that of another complex security—could be a gold mine.

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Until recently, antimony, which is often found in gold mines, was treated as detritus by gold miners.

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The city was Sánchez’s base of operations as he worked to reclaim the gold mine.

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