ˈgold-ˌwasher
† a. One who ‘sweats’ gold coins (obs.). b. One who washes auriferous soil to separate the gold. c. An appliance for obtaining gold by washing.
| c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. (Percy Soc.) 11 Money baterers, Golde washers, tomblers, fogelers. 1683 Pettus Fleta Min. ii. ii. 102 Gold-Washers who go abroad in the Country for Gold-washing, and get their Livelihood by it. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. s.v., Gold-washers are of various kinds.. The pan, the rocking-cradle [etc.]. |
So ˈgold-wash, a place where gold-washing is carried on; ˈgold-washing, (a) the process of obtaining gold by washing; (b) = gold-wash (chiefly in pl.).
| 1683 Gold-washing [see above]. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 241 The gold-wash of the Bannat yields upwards of 1000 ducats. 1799 W. Tooke View Russian Emp. I. 98 The gold-works or gold-washes of Ekaterinenburg. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. s.v. Gold-washers, Edrisi..speaks of the employment of quicksilver in the gold-washings made by the negroes of Sofala as a long-known practice. |