DCHP-1 Online
hawk [< Brit. dial. hawk [haՍk] search out, hunt through < Scand.; cf. Swedish hålka] Placer Mining 
v. examine loose rocks and stones of an area in search of gold or other minerals.
- 1869 (1962) The rough but honest miner . . . / Seeking for the yellow gold, / Hid amang the clay-- / Howkin' in the mountain side.
- 1936 Though green at the business of hawking float, he walked over to the tom rocker, a shallow cradle-like contraption with galvanized lining and two handles, and studied it.
- 1869 (1962) The rough but honest miner . . . / Seeking for the yellow gold, / Hid amang the clay-- / Howkin' in the mountain side.