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Definition of Pay dirt
1. Noun. Ore that yields a substantial profit to the miner.
2. Noun. A profitable success. "The inventor worked for years before hitting pay dirt"
Definition of Pay dirt
1. Noun. (mining) Earth which contains profitable quantities of ore. ¹
2. Noun. (figuratively) A profitable area or period; success. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Pay Dirt
Literary usage of Pay dirt
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Mining in the Pacific States of North America by John Shertzer Hittell (1862)
"In the auriferous gullies and ravines, the pay-dirt is usually as wide as ...
Usually, the pay-dirt is a very stiff clay, full of large gravel and stones. ..."
2. An American Glossary by Richard Hopwood Thornton (1912)
"1857 Ten thousand dollars have been expended in reaching pay dirt at the Cumberland
claim. ... 1869 If the digging shows " pay dirt," he stakes his claim. ..."
3. Judicial and Statutory Definitions of Words and Phrases by West Publishing Company (1914)
"PAT DIRT The term "pay dirt," as used In a placer mining lease, requiring the
lessees to remove all "pay dirt as low as 2 cents per pan," Held ..."
4. Recreation by George O. Shields, American Canoe Association, League of American Sportsmen (1899)
"pay dirt. Dawson, YT, January 18, 1899. Editor RECREATION: April, May, June and
August RECREATION have just reached me. Several weekly papers have been ..."
5. History of California by Hubert Howe Bancroft, Henry Lebbeus Oak, William Nemos, Frances Fuller Victor (1888)
"The rocker was placed iu the spot to which the pay-dirt, and especially a constant
supply of water, could most conveniently be brought. ..."
6. The Resources of California: Comprising Agriculture, Mining, Geography by John Shertzer Hittell (1869)
"In the former the pay-dirt is found deep, twenty feet or more beneath the surface;
... The pay-dirt is usually covered by layers of barren dirt, ..."
7. Two Years in the Klondike and Alaskan Gold-fields: A Thrilling Narrative of by William B. Haskell (1898)
"Joe and I Have Poor Luck — Trying to Locate the Pay-Streak — Big Pans in March
and April — Pay-Dirt — How the Value of the Dirt is Reckoned — Old Miners ..."