gold digger
1
5.3
- noun
- /ɡoʊld ˈdɪɡər/
:
buscador de oro
- Many gold diggers flocked to the area during the gold rush.
Examples
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During the gold rush, thousands of gold diggers flocked to California in search of fortune.
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The film tells the story of a young gold digger who dreams of striking it rich in the wild hills.
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Many gold diggers lived in makeshift camps near the mining sites.
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The veteran gold digger taught newcomers how to pan the river for nuggets.
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The gold digger found a large nugget in the river.
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The miner taught us how to spot a true gold digger in the mountains near the river.
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During the gold rush, many gold diggers flocked to California in search of fortune.
Synonyms
313
2.3
A person who works in a mine to take coal or minerals from the ground
19
5.1
A person who explores land to find minerals like gold or oil
16
2.8
A person who digs holes or trenches as their job
3
3.1
A person who digs or pans for gold
1
7.7
A person who washes soil in a pan to look for gold
A person who washes soil and small stones in a pan to find gold
How Skilled
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound combines 'gold' (something valuable) with 'digger' (one who seeks or extracts), so a B1 learner could plausibly infer a person who seeks wealth, making part of the meaning predictable. However, the specific idiomatic sense — a (usually pejorative) woman who forms relationships primarily for money — and its gendered, social nuance are culturally specific and not fully derivable from the parts (and the phrase can also be read literally as a prospector), so full comprehension requires exposure.
Etymology
The noun gold digger comes from the gold rush, when people literally dug or panned for gold to find nuggets and treasure. So it simply means 'a person who digs or pans for gold'.