Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A rich mine, vein, or pocket of ore.
  • noun A source of great wealth or prosperity.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Very extensive and profitable. Compare bonanza, n., 2.
  • noun A term in common use in the Pacific States, signifying a rich mass of ore: opposed to borrasca.
  • noun Hence—2. A mine of wealth; a profitable thing; good luck: as, to strike a bonanza.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Colloq. U. S. In mining, a rich mine or vein of silver or gold; hence, anything which is a mine of wealth or yields a large income.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun In mining, a rich mine or vein of silver or gold.
  • noun The point at which two mother lodes intersect
  • noun By extension, anything which is a mine of wealth or yields a large income or return.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a sudden happening that brings good fortune (as a sudden opportunity to make money)
  • noun an especially rich vein of precious ore

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Spanish, from Medieval Latin bonacia, calm sea, blend of Latin bonus, good; see deu- in Indo-European roots, and Medieval Latin malacia, calm sea (from Greek malakiā, from malakos, soft; see mel- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Spanish bonanza ("calm sea, fair weather, good luck, rich lode"), from Medieval Latin bonacia ("fair weather"), a blend of bonus ("good") and malacia ("calm sea").

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Examples

  • "That long-held empirical value of pi, I am not saying it should be necessarily viewed as wrong, but 3 is a lot better," said Roby, the 34-year old legislator representing Alabama's second congressional district, ushered into office in the historic 2010 Republican mid-term bonanza.

    Conservative Pie; Republicans Introduce Legislation Redefining Pi as Exactly 3 2011

  • Any PR schpeel that tries to pretend that this motion control bonanza is about innovation and intuitive accessibility and not just about duplicating Nintendo's "economic miracle" is nothing more than disingenuous lip service.

    In Defense Of The Classic Controller SVGL 2009

  • The promised hydrocarbon bonanza is already manifesting itself in territorial claims - such as between Canada and Greenland over tiny Hans Island or Russia's act of planting a titanium flag underwater on the Lomonosov ridge to stake a claim on a huge exclusive economic zone.

    Bianca Jagger: Now Is the Time to Move Beyond Petroleum Bianca Jagger 2010

  • If you judge members of Congress by the source of their campaign funds, I guess you'd have to include Chris Dodd's multi-million-dollar bonanza from the financial industry as the reason for his support of the stimulus bill that Obama pushed so hard for.

    $300 a day for Gatsby (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009

  • The promised hydrocarbon bonanza is already manifesting itself in territorial claims - such as between Canada and Greenland over tiny Hans Island or Russia's act of planting a titanium flag underwater on the Lomonosov ridge to stake a claim on a huge exclusive economic zone.

    Bianca Jagger: Now Is the Time to Move Beyond Petroleum Bianca Jagger 2010

  • But investment banks may not land a profit bonanza from the wave of deals; so many banks are sharing top billing, big profits for bookrunners remain to be seen.

    Wall Street Grabs for Stock Deals Liz Moyer 2010

  • The promised hydrocarbon bonanza is already manifesting itself in territorial claims - such as between Canada and Greenland over tiny Hans Island or Russia's act of planting a titanium flag underwater on the Lomonosov ridge to stake a claim on a huge exclusive economic zone.

    Bianca Jagger: Now Is the Time to Move Beyond Petroleum Bianca Jagger 2010

  • The promised hydrocarbon bonanza is already manifesting itself in territorial claims - such as between Canada and Greenland over tiny Hans Island or Russia's act of planting a titanium flag underwater on the Lomonosov ridge to stake a claim on a huge exclusive economic zone.

    Bianca Jagger: Now Is the Time to Move Beyond Petroleum Bianca Jagger 2010

  • If the move was another earmark bonanza from the Federal trough, well, that would be par for the contemptible course of the GOP and just our payoff for Alaska getting The Bridge to Nowhere, I guess.

    Waldo Jaquith - Thanks to Goode, Martinsville owes some $145,000. 2007

  • Almost all of them if not all of them are working for temp agencies, i.e. they get screwed out of the good wage (temp “industry” thrives, obviously, and no doubt with the appropriate kickbacks), owners and shareholders increase their wealth by raking in bonanza of “retired” labour costs.

    Matthew Yglesias » What Else Is New? 2007

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