bonanzan.
/bə(ʊ)ˈnanzə//bəʊˈnansə/ U.S. colloquial.
1. A highly productive or profitable mine; see quot. 1881.The bonanza mines par excellence were the great silver ones on the Comstock lode. See Sat. Rev. 31 July 1866.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral sources > [noun] > source rock > impregnated with ore
bonanza1844
impregnation1881
1842 ‘A. T. Myrthe’ Ambrosio de Letinez II. 127 This was what Mexicans term a bonanza.]
1844 J. Gregg Commerce of Prairies I. 170 When the Placer was in its greatest bonanza—yielding very large profits to those engaged in the business.
1847 G. F. Ruxton Adventures Mexico & Rocky Mts. xi. 79 The..famous black vein of Sombrerete yielded the greatest bonanzas of any mine on the continent of America.
1875 Scribner's Monthly July 272 But a bonanza with ‘millions in it’ is not struck every week.
1878 N. Amer. Rev. 127 12 The ‘boss’, the ‘railroad king’, and the bonanza Crœsus.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 110 Bonanza, in miners' phrase, good luck, or a body of rich ore. A mine is in bonanza when it is profitably producing ore.
1892 R. L. Stevenson & L. Osbourne Wrecker ix. 139 It's not a bonanza, but there's boodle in it; and we'll try it on.
1955 Bull. Atomic Scientists Mar. 88/2 At the time Steen's diamond-core drill struck the bonanza, he was financially hard-pressed.
2. figurative and in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > [noun] > good fortune
hapc1225
whatec1330
fortune1390
felicity1393
good luck1481
lucka1500
Lady Lucka1535
happiness1540
goodhap1557
faustity1656
serendipity1754
kokum1851
bonanza1878
the world > action or operation > prosperity > [noun] > good fortune > piece of
opportunity?a1425
honeyfall1642
luck in a bag1649
hit1666
godsend1810
stroke of luck1853
bonanza1878
lucky break1889
break1911
a bit of fat1923
snip1932
1878 R. Taylor in N. Amer. Rev. CXXVI. 239 If silence be golden, he was a ‘bonanza’.
1883 Harper's Mag. Nov. 940/1 This..company..proved..a bonanza to its stockholders.
1963 Listener 10 Jan. 98/3 The show is still, as topical entertainment, a real bonanza.
Compounds
bonanza farm n. a farm which is a ‘mine of wealth’; one on a large scale with all modern scientific appliances.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > [noun] > experimental or scientific farm
fancy-farm1810
bonanza farm1883
demonstration farm1885
1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 79 The bonanza farms of America, where every kind of agricultural process is accomplished by steam.
bonanza farmer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > scientific or successful farmer
sciencist1778
scientific farmer1778
bonanza farmer1884
1884 Lisbon (Dakota Territory) Star 27 June One of Ransom county's bonanza farmers.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1887; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1844