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Phrase(s): hit pay dirt
1. Fig. to discover something of value. (Alludes to discovering valuable ore.) • Sally tried a number of different jobs until she hit pay dirt. • I tried to borrow money from a lot of different people. They all said no. Then when I went to the bank, I hit pay dirt. 2. Fig. to get great riches. • After years of poverty, the writer hit pay dirt with his third novel. • Jane’s doing well. She really hit pay dirt with her new business.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
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Also, strike pay dirt. Make a valuable discovery or large profit, as in We've been researching the source of that quotation for a month and we finally hit pay dirt in the Library of Congress. This idiom, from the mid-1800s, refers to a miner's finding gold or other precious metals while sifting soil. By the late 1800s it had been transferred to other lucrative discoveries.
American Heritage Idioms