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definitions

mother lode

or moth·er·lode

[muhth-er-lohd]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mother lode ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Mining. a rich or important lode.
a major or profitable source or supply: New York City is a mother lode of actors.

Origin of mother lode

First recorded in 1855–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for mother lode

bonanza, lode, Eldorado

Examples from the Web for mother lode

Historical Examples of mother lode

  • His hopes of reaching the mother-lode of this mine vanished.

    Panther Eye

    Roy J. Snell

  • The day following his locating of the mother-lode, Pant worked feverishly.

    Panther Eye

    Roy J. Snell

  • Everybody in the cavern smiled, and I daresay if the truth were known we had discovered the mother-lode of comedy.

    Caves of Terror

    Talbot Mundy

British Dictionary definitions for mother lode

mother lode

noun

mining the principal lode in a system
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