placer
1 Americannoun
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a surficial mineral deposit formed by the concentration of small particles of heavy minerals, as gold, rutile, or platinum, in gravel or small sands.
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the site of a form of mining placer mining in which a placer deposit is washed to separate the gold or other valuable minerals.
noun
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a person who sets things in their place or arranges them.
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a person or animal that is among the winners of a race or other contest.
noun
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A surface deposit of minerals, such as gold or magnetite, laid down by a river. The minerals are usually concentrated in one area because they are relatively heavy and therefore settle out of the river's currents more quickly than lighter sediments such as silt and sand.
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◆ The extraction of minerals from placers, as by panning, washing, or dredging, is called placer mining.
Etymology
Origin of placer1
An Americanism first recorded in 1835–45; from Latin American Spanish; Spanish: “sandbank,” from Catalan placel, derivative of plaza “open place”; see plaza
Origin of placer2
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.
His plans call for placer mining, a process that involves separating gold from the dirt and gravel beneath the ground, which he estimates was deposited in Johannesburg through ancient flash-flood and heavy rain events.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2024
Bond, who has been working for the Yukon Geological Survey since 1997, is on his periodic rounds, visiting placer miners, looking at their operations and chatting about what they’re finding.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 10, 2021
Simonson, a conference placer in diving, has been accepted academically to go to Notre Dame.
From Washington Times • Mar. 8, 2021
Mr. Tremblay began placer mining a few years ago, a passion he admitted is stoked more by the thrill of discovery than the prospect of striking it rich.
From New York Times • Oct. 15, 2017
The methods of prospecting and working placer ground have undergone many improvements, but there are still many men practicing the primitive ways of a generation ago.
From The Business of Mining A brief non-technical exposition of the principles involved in the profitable operation of mines by Hoskin, Arthur J.
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.
