Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To search for gold, especially by reworking washings or waste piles.
- intransitive verb To rummage or search around, especially for a possible profit.
- intransitive verb To search for by or as if by rummaging.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To be troublesome.
- In gold-digging, to undermine another's digging; search for waste gold in relinquished workings, washing-places, etc.; hence, to search for any object by which to make gain: as, to
fossick for clients. - noun A troublesome person.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb (Mining), Australia To search for gold by picking at stone or earth or among roots in isolated spots, picking over abandoned workings, etc.; hence, to steal gold or auriferous matter from another's claim.
- intransitive verb To search about; to rummage.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb UK To
ferret out; to elicit information. - verb UK, Australia To search for gold, gems, etc., on the surface or in abandonded workings.
- verb UK To search for something; to
rummage .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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So I decided to go down and "fossick" among the Blyde River terraces.
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Cobden said that a feature of the applicant's case was to "fossick" around various documents and attempt to "stitch" them together to create a "mindset where iiNet encouraged infringement" on its network.
iTnews Australia 2009
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Cobden said that a feature of the applicant's case was to "fossick" around various documents and attempt to "stitch" them together to create a "mindset where iiNet encouraged infringement" on its network.
iTnews Australia 2009
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But the pressures of Dressember have encouraged me to go for a bit of a fossick and recover some survivors from beneath the rubble.
Sew Retro 2008
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General opinion now seems to be that it entered the language too early for that -- and an English etymology is preferred: fiver: a five pound (sterling) note (or "bill"); fossick: pick out gold, in a fairly desultory fashion.
The Rising of the Court Henry Lawson 1894
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His anger floats over me as I fossick inside, Wednesday gloves black with grime.
Filth Matt Potter 2011
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Here's Ian Forth, who I can't help but notice seems to be emailing from his wife's account, with a Smyth-esque piece of statgazzary: Had a quick fossick through statsguru today.
Pakistan v England – day two live! | Andy Bull and Rob Smyth 2012
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It's squirmy, but gives him the perfect opportunity to fossick into the medical-related matters that brought his brother down.
kaboom! mikandra 2009
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I just fossick around reading whatever interests me.
Five historical figures Carla 2006
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This is, admittedly, not Ackroyd's field; he much prefers to fossick around with ecclesiastical architecture and cross-dressing at early-medieval festivals.
frindley commented on the word fossick
Almost exclusively Australian word of Cornish origin. I am told that sook - as in "Grow up, stop crying and don't be such a bloody sook" (or "sooky baby") is also of Cornish origin.
May 8, 2008
yarb commented on the word fossick
Australian? Common enough in UK, too.
May 23, 2008
artoparts commented on the word fossick
Verb. Austral & NZ to find out, dig up, from English dialect fussock to bustle about, move or cause to move energetically and busily. Excited and often noisy activity; a stir.
January 21, 2009
EditorMark commented on the word fossick
For a discussion, see World Wide Words: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fos1.htm
December 1, 2009