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.

JOHANNESBURG—For years, hundreds of illegal miners known locally as zama zamas prospected for gold on this patch of land on the outskirts of the city with hammers and chisels in hand-dug tunnels.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026

Small fragments of the specimen were "prospected" using ultraviolet lights at night.

From Salon • Feb. 4, 2023

Bolsonaro’s father prospected for gold at Serra Pelada, where Dirceu first saw gold mining, and the president sometimes draws on his upbringing to rally support from prospectors.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 12, 2022

Arctic Drilling ASA, a company owned by a local man, Roy Karlsen, prospected on a ring of mountains that surrounded a fjord.

From Scientific American • Nov. 18, 2019

Prospectors Mulligan, Brown, Dowdall, A. Watson, and D. Robertson, got one hundred and five ounces on the Palmer River, which they prospected for twenty miles.

From Early Days in North Queensland by Palmer, Edward