verb fos·sick \ˈfä-sik\

Definition of fossick

  1. intransitive verb
  2. 1 Australia and New Zealand :  to search for gold or gemstones typically by picking over abandoned workings

  3. 2 chiefly Australia and New Zealand :  to search about :  rummage

  4. transitive verb
  5. chiefly Australia and New Zealand :  to search for by or as if by rummaging :  ferret out


noun, chiefly Australia and New Zealand

Did You Know?

The first people to fossick (in the oldest and still-current meaning of the word), back in the 1850s, were picking over abandoned mining excavations in Australia and New Zealand in search of gold or gemstones. But within a few decades fossick was being used more generally to mean "to search about" or "to rummage." Fossick, as we know it, is a native of Down Under, but it may have its origins in a word known to immigrants from the United Kingdom: the dialect term fussock, meaning "to bustle about" or "to fidget."

Origin and Etymology of fossick

English dialect fossick to ferret out

First Known Use: 1852

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up fossick? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).


the forefront of an action or movement

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