GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found one definition

1.       
   Lode (lōd), n. [AS. lād way, journey, fr. līðan to go. See Lead to guide, and cf. Load a burden.]
   1. A water course or way; a reach of water.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   Down that long, dark lode . . .  he and his brother skated home in triumph. C. Kingsley.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   
   2.  (Mining) A body of ore visibly separated from adjacent rock.
   
   [PJC]
   
   
   3. Especially: (Mining) Any regular vein or course of valuable mineral, whether metallic or not.
   
   [1913 Webster]
   
   
   4. Hence: A concentrated supply or source of something valuable.
   
   [PJC]
   
   mother lode a large concentrated source of mineral or other valuable thing, from which lesser sources have been derived; -- often used figuratively.  The term may have been originally applied to real or imagined large deposits of gold from which smaller granules were washed downstream, there constituting a diluted source of gold, and hinting at the richer source from which they were derived; as, “to hit the mother lode”.
   
   [PJC]