mother lode

noun

1
: the principal vein or lode of a region
2
: a principal source or supply

Examples of mother lode in a Sentence

the university has long been a mother lode of athletic talent, with many alumni joining the rarefied ranks of the professionals
Recent Examples on the Web While their pro shop didn’t have much on sale, REI’s website is the mother lode of markdowns. Katie Jackson, Travel + Leisure, 16 Mar. 2024 Around the end of the night, after clocking objects like the spectacular Ring Nebula (M57) and the quirky Wild Duck Cluster (M11), named for the rough V-shape of its bright stars that resembles migrating birds, astronomers turn to the constellation Sagittarius, a mother lode for marathoners. Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Mar. 2024 But back onboard The Dare, there’s no sign its crew will be stopping the search for the mother lode anytime soon. Jay O'Brien, ABC News, 11 Nov. 2023 After all, joining the gold rush of famous figures to endorse, purchase or establish liquor companies since George Clooney turned Casamigos into a $1-billion mother lode in 2017 isn’t exactly a parable of rugged individualism or self-reliance. Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2023 Two-thousand-five-hundred miles west of Dodger Stadium was a mother lode of Dodgers memorabilia. Lewis Abraham Leader, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2023 This is the mother lode of Egyptian antiquities, the country’s ceremonial capital for millennia. Klara Glowczewska, Town & Country, 18 June 2023 The mother lode of winter storms has sent water blasting through rock crevices and rivers in the Sierra Nevada, leading to more glittering discoveries by prospectors. Thomas Fuller Jim Wilson, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2023 The notion that there’s a mother lode beneath the California peak, which is about 100 miles northeast of Barstow, was popularized in the 1930s by a miner who claimed to have seen it during a daring, four-day voyage. Daniel Miller, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mother lode.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1863, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mother lode was in 1863

Dictionary Entries Near mother lode

Cite this Entry

“Mother lode.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mother%20lode. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mother lode

noun
: the main vein or deposit of an ore (as gold) in a region
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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