hill rat
Hill rat is an old American slang term for a prospector — someone scrambling through rugged backcountry terrain hunting for gold, silver, or other minerals.
Definitions
Hill rat is an old American slang term for a prospector — someone scrambling through rugged backcountry terrain hunting for gold, silver, or other minerals. It paints a picture of a scrappy, weather-beaten figure digging around hillsides with more stubbornness than luck. The term has an affectionate, rough-around-the-edges feel, capturing the wild-west spirit of heading into the mountains on nothing but hope and a pickaxe. Rarely used today outside of historical or Western contexts.
Old Pete was a classic hill rat — spent thirty years poking around the Nevada hills looking for his big strike.
Comments
(US, slang) A prospector.
Comments
Have a better definition?
Add your own interpretation of "hill rat".
🗺️About Regional & Other slang
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
Tags
Other words near "hill rat" (H)
Browse all slang words starting with H.
Related terms
People also read
Semantically related
- desert rat76%
(historical, slang) A wandering prospector.
- desert rat63%
(historical, slang) A British or Australian soldier who served in North Africa with the British 7th Armoured Division in 1941-42.
- hood rat62%
(slang, African-American Vernacular English, pejorative) A person, especially a man or a woman, from an urban neighborhood who overtly exhibits attributes associated with inner city life, especially in both behavior and appearance.
- hilljack60%
(US) A hillbilly or redneck.