fossick
/ˈfɑsɪk/
verb
- To search or rummage, especially in a small or careful way, often for something valuable or interesting.
- He spent the afternoon fossicking in the library for rare books.
- The children fossicked through the old trunk looking for treasure.
- She fossicked around the flea market, hoping to find a vintage necklace.
- To dig or search for gold or other minerals in abandoned mines or waste piles.
- After the mine closed, locals would fossick through the rubble for leftover ore.
- The old miner still liked to fossick for gold in the tailings near the river.
- They went fossicking in the hills, hoping to find a few nuggets.