mother lode

or moth·er·lode

[ muhth-er-lohd ]
/ ˈmʌð ərˌloʊd /
SEE 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

Words nearby mother lode

mother-in-law's tongue, motherland, mother language, motherless, mother liquor, mother lode, motherly, mother-naked, Mother Nature, mother of, mother of coal
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to mother lode

bonanza, gold mine, lode, pot of gold

Example sentences from the Web for mother lode

  • 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

  • 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

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