lode — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A way or path; a road.

   Usage

   • Obsolete

2. A watercourse.

   Usage

   • dialectal

3. A vein of metallic ore that lies within definite boundaries, or within a fissure.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   The metals traditionally sought in the Bristol Bay region have been gold and copper, mostly in deposits near Lake Iliamna. An exception is a gold lode discovered about 1930 near Sleitat Mountain (4), where about $200 in gold was recovered from small quartz veins near the periphery of a small granitic intrusive body.

4. A rich source of supply.

   Usage

   • broadly

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   In recent years, Jack Grieve of the department of English and linguistics at the University of Birmingham in England has embraced Twitter as a bountiful lode for looking at language-use patterns.

Noun

1. a deposit of valuable ore occurring within definite boundaries separating it from surrounding rocks

   Synonyms

   load

   Broader terms

   depositsedimentationalluviation