fossick
verb
fos·sick ˈfä-sik 
fossicked; fossicking; fossicks
intransitive verb
1
Australia and New Zealand : to search for gold or gemstones typically by picking over abandoned workings
2
chiefly Australia and New Zealand : to search about : rummage
transitive verb
chiefly Australia and New Zealand : to search for by or as if by rummaging : ferret out
fossicker noun chiefly Australia and New Zealand
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Search for the Origin of Fossick
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."
Word History
Etymology
English dialect fossick to ferret out
First Known Use
1852, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1
- throw-in
- throw-ins
- throw/bring into question
- throw/fling/cast caution to the wind
- throw/hurl/toss a monkey wrench into
- throw/knock (someone) off (his/her) stride
- throw/toss one's hat in/into the ring
- throwaway
- throwaways
- throwback
- throwbacker
- throwbackest
- throwbacks
- throwed
- thrower
- throwers
- throwing
- throwing (on)
- throwing away
- throwing back
- throwing cold water on
- throwing down
- throwing in
- throwing in the towel
- throwing off