gold rush

American

noun

a large-scale and hasty movement of people to a region where gold has been discovered, as to California in 1849.

gold rush British

noun

a large-scale migration of people to a territory where gold has been found

"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

Etymology

Origin of gold rush

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Peak TV should have been a gold rush for writers and actors.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2026

As almost everybody knows, the AI gold rush is upon us.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026

A gold rush has gripped an informal settlement east of the South African city of Johannesburg, after reports spread a few days ago about the discovery of some gold particles.

From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026

Sporong is an informal settlement about 50 kilometres from Johannesburg, South Africa's economic capital that was built on a gold rush 140 years ago.

From Barron's • Jan. 23, 2026

Most of those tribelets were killed off or dispossessed during or soon after the California gold rush of 1848-52, when large numbers of immigrants flooded the state.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023