Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

mother lode

or moth·er·lode

[muhth-er-lohd]
See more synonyms for mother lode on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Mining. a rich or important lode.
  2. a major or profitable source or supply: New York City is a mother lode of actors.
Show More

Origin of mother lode

First recorded in 1855–60
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mother lode

Historical Examples

  • 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
  1. mining the principal lode in a system
Show More
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