mullock

== English == === Etymology === From mull +‎ -ock. === Pronunciation === === Noun === mullock (usually uncountable, plural mullocks) (now UK dialect) Rubbish, waste matter. (Australia, New Zealand, mining) Mining waste or ore processing waste: (Australia, New Zealand, mining) Overburden: waste material generated while searching for minerals or while mining, such as when sinking a shaft. (Australia, New Zealand, mining) Tailings: waste rock from which the wanted gold, minerals, opal, etc., has been extracted. 1875, New Zealand House of Representatives, Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand, Volume 2, page 30, The gold, both in the quartz and mullock, is very fine, and, owing to the soft and ferruginous nature of the stuff, specks can but very rarely be seen during working. Nonsense, rubbish. (UK, Yorkshire, dialect) A mess; the result of a blunder. ==== Derived terms ==== === Verb === mullock (third-person singular simple present mullocks, present participle mullocking, simple past and past participle mullocked) (transitive, mining) To clear waste material out of a mine. ==== Derived terms ==== mullocker ==== References ==== Oxford English Dictionary