gold rush

plural gold rushes · alternative goldrush · alternative gold-rush

1. historicalAny period of feverish migration into an area in which gold has been discovered.

   Here Grey Beaver stopped. A whisper of the gold-rush had reached his ears, and he had come with several bales of furs, and another of gut-sewn mittens and moccasins. He would not have ventured so long a trip had he not expected generous profits.

   1906 May–October, Jack London, chapter I, in White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 4 (The Superior Gods)

   Synonyms: gold fever

2. figurativelyA feverish obsession with seeking profits, especially in new markets.

   That’s because I’ve decided to enter the freewheeling world of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, the newest frontier in the cryptocurrency gold rush.

   2021 March 24, Kevin Roose, “Buy This Column on the Blockchain!”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

3. A cocktail made from bourbon, honey, and lemon juice.

   The Gold Rush is one of my favorite cocktails, invented at Sasha Petraske's famed Milk & Honey bar and now served all over the world. Basically a cold toddy, it's a shaken drink with bourbon, fresh lemon, and honey.

   2021, Elva Ramirez, Zero Proof: 90 Non-Alcoholic Recipes for Mindful Drinking, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 94

4. informalhobbiesThe urge to win gold medals, as in the Olympic Games.