fossick

• POS: Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: fos=sick

CIDE DICTIONARY

fossick, v. i. [Dial. E. fossick, fossuck, a troublesome person, fussick to potter over one's work, fussock to bustle about; of uncertain origin. Cf. Fuss.].

•  To search for gold by picking at stone or earth or among roots in isolated spots, picking over abandoned workings, etc.; hence, to steal gold or auriferous matter from another's claim.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  To search about; to rummage.

  "A man who has fossicked in nature's byways."  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

fossick, v.intr. Austral. & NZ colloq.
1 (foll. by about, around) rummage, search.
2 search for gold etc. in abandoned workings.

Derivative

fossicker n.

Etymology

19th c.: cf. dial. fossick bustle about