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  • gold
    gold
    noun
    a precious yellow metallic element, highly malleable and ductile, and not subject to oxidation or corrosion. Au; 196.967; 79; 19.3 at 20°C.
  • Gold
    Gold
    noun
Synonyms

gold

1 American  
[gohld] / goʊld /

noun

  • gold
    plural
  1. a precious yellow metallic element, highly malleable and ductile, and not subject to oxidation or corrosion. Au; 196.967; 79; 19.3 at 20°C.

  2. a quantity of gold coins.

    to pay in gold.

  3. a monetary standard based on this metal; gold standard.

  4. money; wealth; riches.

  5. something likened to this metal in brightness, preciousness, superiority, etc..

    a heart of gold.

  6. a bright, metallic yellow color, sometimes tending toward brown.

  7. gold medal.

  8. Military. Gold, the code name for one of the five D-day invasion beaches, assaulted by British troops.


adjective

  1. consisting of gold.

  2. pertaining to gold.

  3. like gold.

  4. of the color of gold.

  5. indicating the fiftieth event of a series, as a wedding anniversary.

  6. (of an audio recording) having sold a minimum of 500,000 copies.

idioms

  1. go gold,

    1. (of an audio recording) to attain sales of 500,000 copies or more.

    2. (of a video game) to complete the development cycle from production through quality assurance testing and enter the sales and shipping cycle.

      The game went gold in November and was on store shelves for the holiday season.

Gold 2 American  
[gohld, gawld] / goʊld, gɔld /

noun

  1. Nanay.


Gold 3 American  
[gohld] / goʊld /

noun

  1. Herbert, 1924–2023, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.

  2. Thomas, 1920–2004, U.S. astronomer, born in Austria: formulated the steady-state theory of the universe.


gold 1 British  
/ ɡəʊld /

noun

    1. a dense inert bright yellow element that is the most malleable and ductile metal, occurring in rocks and alluvial deposits: used as a monetary standard and in jewellery, dentistry, and plating. The radioisotope gold-198 ( radiogold ), with a half-life of 2.69 days, is used in radiotherapy. Symbol: Au; atomic no: 79; atomic wt: 196.96654; valency: 1 or 3; relative density: 19.3; melting pt: 1064.43°C; boiling pt: 2857°C

    2. ( as modifier )

      a gold mine

  1. a coin or coins made of this metal

  2. money; wealth

  3. something precious, beautiful, etc, such as a noble nature (esp in the phrase heart of gold )

    1. a deep yellow colour, sometimes with a brownish tinge

    2. ( as adjective )

      a gold carpet

  4. archery the bull's eye of a target, scoring nine points

  5. short for gold medal

"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

Gold 2 British  
/ ɡəʊld /

noun

  1. Thomas. 1920–2004, Austrian-born astronomer, working in England and the US: with Bondi and Hoyle he proposed the steady-state theory of the universe

"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

gold Scientific  
/ gōld /
  1. A soft, shiny, yellow element that is the most malleable of all the metals. It occurs in veins and in alluvial deposits. Because it is very durable, resistant to corrosion, and a good conductor of heat and electricity, gold is used as a plated coating on electrical and mechanical components. It is also an international monetary standard and is used in jewelry and for decoration. Atomic number 79; atomic weight 196.967; melting point 1,063.0°C; boiling point 2,966.0°C; specific gravity 19.32; valence 1, 3.

  2. See Periodic Table See Note at element


Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of gold

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with German Gold, Gothic gulth; akin to Persian zar, Russian zóloto, Sanskrit híraṇya; cf. yellow ( def. )


Explanation

Gold is a relatively soft, shiny precious metal. Many kinds of jewelry, including necklaces, bangles, and wedding rings are traditionally made of gold. The element itself is called gold, and it's used to make valuable jewels, coins, and as a standard for currency trading. You can also use the word to describe the color, a shiny metallic deep yellow, or to describe things made from the metal: "Check out my new gold earrings!" Gold is an Old English word that shares a Proto-Indo-European root with the word "yellow:" ghel-, which means "yellow or green," and possibly "bright."

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Vocabulary lists containing gold

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.

See Examples For:

Scientists observed that relatively low-energy particles emerging from gold collisions moved collectively, following coordinated patterns.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026

Although this suppression was smaller than what physicists typically measure in gold collisions, that difference was expected because oxygen collisions generate much smaller systems.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026

Mark Hopkins and Collis P. Huntington ran a hardware store in Sacramento, at a propitious time and place to supply gold miners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

The situation with gold and the stock market falling together is very reminiscent of 2008, he said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026

He probably paid more attention to the inside, where all the gold was.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

A sharp selloff in equities through Friday has “created collateral damage in the precious-metals markets due to a liquidity-driven flight to safety,” said Dana Samuelson, president of American Gold Exchange.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026

How the Gold Rush transformed America, Rod Serling’s television breakthrough, a painter of loneliness and more.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Based in Australia because of his role as Gold Coast Titans assistant coach, he relied on virtual meetings to connect with his prospective squad and staff.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Markets across the board, however, seem to be “front-running growing concerns that there could be major and destabilizing military escalations in the Persian Gulf as early as next week,” said American Gold Exchange’s Samuelson.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026

The Light Market was stocked with every color except Gold, which was sold only on the West Side.

From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat

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