from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Gold \Gold\ (g[=o]ld), n. [AS. gold; akin to D. goud, OS. & G.
gold, Icel. gull, Sw. & Dan. guld, Goth. gul[thorn], Russ. &
OSlav. zlato; prob. akin to E. yellow. [root]49, 234. See
{Yellow}, and cf. {Gild}, v. t.]
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1. (Chem.) A metallic element of atomic number 79,
constituting the most precious metal used as a common
commercial medium of exchange. It has a characteristic
yellow color, is one of the heaviest substances known
(specific gravity 19.32), is soft, and very malleable and
ductile. It is quite unalterable by heat (melting point
1064.4[deg] C), moisture, and most corrosive agents, and
therefore well suited for its use in coin and jewelry.
Symbol Au ({Aurum}). Atomic weight 196.97.
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Note: Native gold contains usually eight to ten per cent of
silver, but often much more. As the amount of silver
increases, the color becomes whiter and the specific
gravity lower. Gold is very widely disseminated, as in
the sands of many rivers, but in very small quantity.
It usually occurs in quartz veins (gold quartz), in
slate and metamorphic rocks, or in sand and alluvial
soil, resulting from the disintegration of such rocks.
It also occurs associated with other metallic
substances, as in auriferous pyrites, and is combined
with tellurium in the minerals petzite, calaverite,
sylvanite, etc. Pure gold is too soft for ordinary use,
and is hardened by alloying with silver and copper, the
latter giving a characteristic reddish tinge. [See
{Carat}.] Gold also finds use in gold foil, in the
pigment purple of Cassius, and in the chloride, which
is used as a toning agent in photography.
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2. Money; riches; wealth.
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For me, the gold of France did not seduce. --Shak.
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3. A yellow color, like that of the metal; as, a flower
tipped with gold.
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4. Figuratively, something precious or pure; as, hearts of
gold. --Shak.
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{Age of gold}. See {Golden age}, under {Golden}.
{Dutch gold}, {Fool's gold}, {Gold dust}, etc. See under
{Dutch}, {Dust}, etc.
{Gold amalgam}, a mineral, found in Columbia and California,
composed of gold and mercury.
{Gold beater}, one whose occupation is to beat gold into gold
leaf.
{Gold beater's skin}, the prepared outside membrane of the
large intestine of the ox, used for separating the leaves
of metal during the process of gold-beating.
{Gold beetle} (Zool.), any small gold-colored beetle of the
family {Chrysomelid[ae]}; -- called also {golden beetle}.
{Gold blocking}, printing with gold leaf, as upon a book
cover, by means of an engraved block. --Knight.
{Gold cloth}. See {Cloth of gold}, under {Cloth}.
{Gold Coast}, a part of the coast of Guinea, in West Africa.
{Gold cradle}. (Mining) See {Cradle}, n., 7.
{Gold diggings}, the places, or region, where gold is found
by digging in sand and gravel from which it is separated
by washing.
{Gold end}, a fragment of broken gold or jewelry.
{Gold-end man}.
(a) A buyer of old gold or jewelry.
(b) A goldsmith's apprentice.
(c) An itinerant jeweler. "I know him not: he looks like a
gold-end man." --B. Jonson.
{Gold fever}, a popular mania for gold hunting.
{Gold field}, a region in which are deposits of gold.
{Gold finder}.
(a) One who finds gold.
(b) One who empties privies. [Obs. & Low] --Swift.
{Gold flower}, a composite plant with dry and persistent
yellow radiating involucral scales, the {Helichrysum
St[oe]chas} of Southern Europe. There are many South
African species of the same genus.
{Gold foil}, thin sheets of gold, as used by dentists and
others. See {Gold leaf}.
{Gold knobs} or {Gold knoppes} (Bot.), buttercups.
{Gold lace}, a kind of lace, made of gold thread.
{Gold latten}, a thin plate of gold or gilded metal.
{Gold leaf}, gold beaten into a film of extreme thinness, and
used for gilding, etc. It is much thinner than gold foil.
{Gold lode} (Mining), a gold vein.
{Gold mine}, a place where gold is obtained by mining
operations, as distinguished from diggings, where it is
extracted by washing. Cf. {Gold diggings} (above).
{Gold nugget}, a lump of gold as found in gold mining or
digging; -- called also a {pepito}.
{Gold paint}. See {Gold shell}.
{Gold pheasant}, or {Golden pheasant}. (Zool.) See under
{Pheasant}.
{Gold plate}, a general name for vessels, dishes, cups,
spoons, etc., made of gold.
{Mosaic gold}. See under {Mosaic}.
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