placer Hear it!

placer¹ Definition

placer (plās′ər)

noun

a person who places
placer² Definition

☆ placer (plas′ər)

noun

a waterborne or glacial deposit of gravel or sand containing heavy ore minerals, as gold or cassiterite, which have been eroded from their original bedrock and concentrated as small particles that can be washed out

Etymology: AmSp (for Sp placel) < Catalan, lit., sandbank < plassa, a place < L platea: see place

placer Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • second: Another of our second placers was Savage's boss, Mark Hughes.

Modifies a noun

  • deposit: Ron first became involved in the sapphire placer deposits of Rock Creek and Eldorado, Montana, through university projects in the 1960s.
  • gold: Searching for the source of the Klondike placer gold.
  • genesis: Prof Carl L Amos Research interests: Quaternary stratigraphy, marine technology, placer genesis and sedimentology.
  • mining: May 21-22 Dawson City International Gold Show ( aimed at the placer mining industry ).