mother lode

noun

Definition of mother lodenext
as in gold mine
an abundant source the university has long been a mother lode of athletic talent, with many alumni joining the rarefied ranks of the professionals

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mother lode Game shows have always been about making a deal, but this was the mother lode! — Lindsay Soll, EW.com, 25 July 2025 And in another kind of desert, the Tatacoa in Colombia, two bare-bones museums hold a mother lode of 10 million-year-old fossils for study. — Troy Aidan Sambajon, Christian Science Monitor, 2 Mar. 2025 Considering how much Italy is growing in terms of national branding, accessing the mother lode of tourism could be a great opportunity for foreign investors interested in Italy. — Andrea Pietrini, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025 There are nearly 1,600 types of beans alone in this mother lode called The Exchange, each with its own story of human connection. — Margaret Roach, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for mother lode
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother lode
  1. gold mine
  2. treasure trove
  3. repository
Noun
  • China has acquired major gold mines across Latin America, Africa and Asia, according to S&P Global Ratings.
    — Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2026
  • In California, a gold mine caved in beneath a family living room, killing a 32-year-old man and his dog.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of gold mine
Noun
  • This is overseen by Frédéric Bourdelier, director of heritage and patrimony at Parfums Christian Dior, who pulled out museum-grade boxes to show samples from the treasure trove.
    — Jennifer Weil, Footwear News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • That hasn’t stopped him from wanting to grow his treasure trove, though.
    — Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of treasure trove
Noun
  • That's more in line with tasks that use multipage documents, code repositories, or scientific datasets.
    — Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Perhaps the biggest vote of confidence has been Nvidia’s acquisition of Hugging Face, a repository of open-source AI models that has become as integral to developers’ processes as GitHub.
    — Kevin Cochrane, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of repository

Browse Nearby Words

motherliness
mother lode
mother lodes
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Cite this Entry

“Mother lode.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mother%20lode. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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