noun
- the activity of searching for gold or precious stones in abandoned workings
Usage: Australian; New Zealand
verb
- to search for gold or precious stones in abandoned workings or waste heaps
- to search around or rummage for something
Usage: Australian; New Zealand
Usage: Australian; New Zealand; informal
Examples
- They spent the weekend fossicking for opals in the old mine.
- He enjoys fossicking through antique shops for hidden treasures.
- The tourists went fossicking in the creek bed hoping to find gold.
- She was fossicking around in her bag looking for her keys.
- Fossicking is a popular hobby in rural Australia.
- The old prospector taught them the basics of fossicking.