lode
- 01 C2 Proficiency
a layer of metal ore, like gold or silver, found inside a crack in a rock.
a vein of metallic ore that fills a fissure in a rock formation or lies within definite boundaries.
Simple“The miners followed the lode of silver deep into the mountain.”
In context“Geologists determined that the mother lode extended vertically for several hundred metres, promising decades of productive extraction for the mining firm.”
- 02 C2 Proficiency
a large supply of something very useful or valuable.
a rich or abundant source of supply, often used figuratively.
Simple“The old library was a lode of information for the young researcher.”
In context“The recently discovered correspondence proved to be a lode of historical insight, revealing the private motivations behind the public treaty.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
a small channel or stream used for water.
a watercourse or an artificial channel used for drainage, particularly in fenlands.
Simple“The farmers cleared the lode to make sure the fields didn't flood.”
In context“The ancient lodes of East Anglia remain vital to the region's drainage system, directing excess rainfall away from the low-lying agricultural plains.”
Doublet of load, which has however become semantically restricted. The now-archaic lode continues the old sense of Old English lād (“way, course, journey”) but by the 19th century survived only dialectally in the sense of “watercourse”, as a technical term in mining, and in the compounds lodestone, lodestar.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.