mother lodes

noun

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 lodes Beyond mother lodes of oil or natural gas, ready cash can also be generated with diamond or gold mines, precious metals, and rare minerals. — Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mother lodes
  1. gold mines
  2. treasure troves
  3. repositories
Noun
  • Its purpose was to serve the silver and gold mines of the San Juan Mountains, but almost immediately the road also began to attract tourists.
    — Peter Hessler, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The ministry described its copper resources as equivalent to several large copper mines and its gold resources as exceeding those of 10 large gold mines.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of gold mines
Noun
  • Like kingdoms of old, SaaS companies are sitting on treasure troves of data.
    — Srinivas Velamoor, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Thrift stores are treasure troves of unique, valuable items that can elevate your home and personal style.
    — Heather Bien, Martha Stewart, 19 July 2026
Definition of treasure troves
Noun
  • The company started scanning repositories for credentials, began alerting users that their credentials were exposed, and even set up default push protections to prevent affected repositories from being duplicated.
    — Alex Colon, PC Magazine, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The National Institutes of Health will coordinate datasets, repositories and other resources developed through more than $500 million in previous federal investment.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of repositories

Browse Nearby Words

mother lode
mother lodes
motherly
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Mother lodes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mother%20lodes. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of nexus

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Why do we call it a 'flea market'?
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All