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Glite Dictionary
pot of gold

pot of gold

5 4.1
A reward that someone hopes to get but finds hard to reach
  • noun
  • Informal
translation icon : tesoro
  • The pot of gold at the end of the proverbial legal rainbow is just too big.
  • pot of gold at the end

So your subconscious mind is like your pot of gold.

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Examples

  • He always told his children that if they studied hard, there would be a pot of gold waiting for them in the future.

  • Fun facts for one graphic provided information on various types of clouds, a rainbow's bands of colors, and the mythical pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

    Academic text (2009)

  • I can buy him off for a pot of gold.

    It Happened One Night (1934)

  • Did somebody die and leave you a pot of gold? -

    The Informer (1935)

  • Look for a pot of gold hidden around the office.

    Academic text (2001)

  • OK, so not to kind of put too fine a point on it, we found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

  • "When I was little and looked at a rainbow, I used to think how beautiful that rainbow was—how exciting it was that there was a pot of gold at the end.

    Academic text (1993)

  • After years of hard work, she felt she had finally uncovered her pot of gold in the form of a fulfilling career.

  • Many people believe there is a pot of gold waiting for them after they put in the effort to achieve their dreams.

Synonyms

golden opportunity
vspot of gold
18 3.2

A rare chance to do something important

is viewed as the hoped-for reward rather than merely a chance
grail
vspot of gold
15 8.8

An important goal people spend a long time trying to reach

is a reward people hope to gain rather than the final quest
Holy Grail
vspot of gold
12 7.2

A thing people try hard to find or achieve as the main goal

is a hoped-for tangible reward rather than an abstract ideal
goldmine
vspot of gold
  • Informal
5 4.1

A rich source of useful things or information

is a single hoped-for prize rather than a continuous source
golden ticket
vspot of gold
  • Informal
4 4.1

A special chance that gives a person an easy way to succeed

is a reward people desire but does not promise success
brass ring
vspot of gold
  • Informal
2 7.4

A chance to get great success or a big reward

is a hoped-for reward, not only an opportunity to try

How Valuable

treasure
676 1.1
pot of gold
  • Informal
5 4.1
to reward
328 1.3
token
29 3.4
trinket
43 3.5

Surface Forms

pot of gold singular
pots of gold plural

Morphology

pot + of + gold

The meaning 'a reward or treasure' is directly derivable from combining 'pot' (a container) with 'gold' (a valuable metal), so a learner who knows the constituents will infer a container of gold and thus a treasure. Although the idiomatic nuance (e.g. the mythical 'pot of gold at the end of the rainbow' as something hoped for but hard to attain) may require cultural knowledge, the core sense is compositionally transparent.

Etymology

The phrase pot of gold comes from old Irish stories that imagined a shiny pot full of gold at the end of a rainbow. One popular story says a leprechaun guards that treasure and, because the rainbow's end always moves, the pot of gold became a picture of a hoped-for 'reward' that is hard to reach.