| 释义 |
▪ I. prospecting, vbl. n.
[f. prec. + -ing1.]
The action of the verb prospect.
†I.
1. |prəʊˈspɛktɪŋ| Viewing, seeing. Obs.
1677Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 416 The expression..intimates that the way which Satan took was different from common prospecting or beholding.
II. Mining (ˈprɒspɛktɪŋ, now usu. prəˈspɛktɪŋ).
2. a. Surveying as to prospects; exploring or examining for minerals; the experimental working of a mine or reef.
1848W. Colton Jrnl. 18 Oct. in 3 Yrs. in Calif. (1850) xxi. 292 Half their time is consumed in what they call prospecting; that is, looking up new deposits [of gold]. 1849C. T. Jackson in Ex. Doc. 31st U.S. Congress 1 Sess. House No. 5. 457 It is obvious that the shallow pits now sunk on the vein [of copper] show only its surface, and that they can only be regarded..as mere superficial explorations, or ‘prospecting diggings’, as they are called in the west. 1857J. D. Borthwick 3 Years California vi. 124 We abandoned it [our claim], and went ‘prospecting’. 1872Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 283 Little real mining has been carried on, while much prospecting has taken place. 1887R. Murray Geol. & Phys. Geog. Victoria 157 Tracts..which,..in spite of careful prospecting, failed to yield gold.
b. attrib. Used, made, or done in prospecting, as prospecting camp, prospecting dish, prospecting drill, prospecting mill, prospecting pan, prospecting shaft, prospecting trip, prospecting work; prospecting claim, the first claim, marked out by the discoverer of the deposit.
1851in Occasional Papers Univ. Sydney Austral. Lang. Res. Centre (1966) No. 9. 19 The sediment which is composed of dirt, small stones and the particles of Gold which appear at and in the different compartments at the bottom are now emptied thro' two plugholes into a..tin dish, called a prospecting pan. 1869Overland Monthly Mar. 279/1 Over one of the hoisting shafts there is a large wooden bucket with a rope and rude windlass such as you might see on the prospecting shaft of the poorest miner. 1877Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 37 Prospecting-drills will be used..to make a thorough examination of the best-appearing veins on the whole estate. 1880Cimarron News & Press 22 July 2/2 New Mexico ought to become one vast prospecting camp for the next five years. 1880Daily Tel. 3 Dec., Hundreds of men..began to sink what are called ‘prospecting shafts’, and a vast amount of low grade mineral was brought to bank. 1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right v, This..would be but half the size of the premier or prospecting claim. 1931V. Palmer Separate Lives 183 Men..had been trickling in from the prospecting-camps and copper-shows of the dry country. 1944F. Clune Red Heart 62 He now knew how to twirl a prospecting dish. 1948P. Johnston Lost & Living Cities Calif. Gold Rush 52/2 A number of miners disappeared while on prospecting trips, leaving no trace of their fate.
fig.1891Athenæum 23 May 662/2 Nothing could well look less promising..than the first appearances which..greeted Dr. Atkinson on his prospecting visit to Danby.
▪ II. prospecting, ppl. a.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
†1. That looks forward or foresees; provident.
1681J. Flavel Meth. Grace Ep. to Rdr. 14 Man being a prudent and prospecting creature, hath the advantage of all other creatures in his foreseeing faculty.
2. Mining |ˈprɒspɛktɪŋ|. That prospects or searches for indications of gold, etc.
1848N. York Lit. World 3 June (Bartlett), Two or three men with a bucket, a rope, a pick-axe, and a portable windlass... This..is a prospecting party. 1882H. Lansdell Through Siberia I. 213 There must be a prospecting party made up. |