gold dust
Americannoun
noun
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gold in the form of small particles or powder, as found in placer-mining
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a valuable or rare thing
tickets for this match are gold dust
Etymology
Origin of gold dust
First recorded in 1695–1705
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Samuel Brannan proclaimed in 1848, trotting a bottle of gold dust around San Francisco and effectively kicking off the Gold Rush.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
Information about what consumers are looking for in the resale market is gold dust for luxury brands trying to figure out what shoppers want to buy now.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 19, 2025
Owen says this is typical of many people he treats: "When people get to these crossroads, when they wake up and realise what they are doing, that's a gold dust moment for me."
From BBC • May 17, 2025
He said the video the pair allegedly filmed of "the moment the world famous tree was cut down" was "gold dust" and would have "gone viral".
From BBC • May 7, 2025
As Hazel talked, her hair floated around her face in a cloud—like brown earth and gold dust in a miner’s pan.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
