noun
lode
lohd
noun
1
A vein of metal-bearing ore running through rock.
"Prospectors followed the lode deep into the mountainside."
"The mine was built around a rich silver lode."
2
A rich source of something valuable (figurative).
"The archive proved a lode of unpublished letters."
How to Use Lode
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA seam of valuable ore in rock — or, figuratively, any rich source of something.
Common mistake
Not to be confused with "load" (a weight or burden) or "lord."
Easily confused with
Common pairings
a rich lode
strike a lode
mother lode
Word Forms
lodes plural
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Prospectors followed the _____ deep into the mountainside.
Etymology
A doublet of "load" — both come from Old English lād, "way, course, journey." "Lode" kept its old sense as a mining term for a mineral vein, surviving mainly in words like "lodestone" and "lodestar."