pay dirt
Americannoun
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soil, gravel, or ore that can be mined profitably.
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Informal. any source of success or wealth; a fortunate discovery or profitable venture.
After months of experimentation, the scientists finally hit pay dirt.
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Football. end zone.
noun
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a deposit rich enough in minerals to be worth mining
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informal to achieve one's objective
Etymology
Origin of pay dirt
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
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.
Last year, it attained a valuation of $2.96 billion and recently finished two years of digitizing maps and other documents from the state archives in neighboring Zambia, where it hit pay dirt.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026
Their initial attempts failed to find nematodes in lakebed sediments, prompting Jung to take a hammer to samples of microbialites where she struck biological pay dirt.
From Science Daily • Mar. 13, 2024
It was amusing for a while to watch celebrities squirm in trying to say the right thing when asked about being a nepo baby—a topic interviewers quickly learned led to sound-bite pay dirt.
From Slate • Jan. 30, 2024
A play later, Caleb Williams hit pay dirt on an 11-yard run, giving USC a one-point lead.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2023
“The medical students will hit pay dirt with Old Man Lichtenberger,” I said, summing up.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
