Meaning of gully-raking in English:
gully-raking
noun
mass noun historical Australian, New Zealand1The practice of rounding up or stealing unbranded livestock from remote areas.
‘everybody does a spot of gully-raking now and then’- ‘I was gully-raking with a mate in the mountains at the back of Richmond.’
- ‘I had now to resort to what is termed moonlighting and gully-raking.’
- ‘Cattle duffing and gully-raking for wandered livestock were in some cases a prelude to bushranging.’
- ‘Gully-raking, or sheep and cattle stealing, was common in most districts.’
- ‘It was my first attempt at gully-raking, leaving my stock-keeper to do his master's share of the work.’
2The practice of searching for surface gold.
‘gold-mining on this field is now confined to gully-raking’- ‘The principal work has been mere gully-raking or surfacing in the bed of the creek.’
- ‘Where gullies were worked to a shallow depth, the process was known as 'gully raking'.’
- ‘The fossicker goes gully-raking into old gullies and worked-out creeks.’
- ‘At present there are 13 men gully-raking a mile from the junction with the river.’
- ‘At Gowrie Creek, much of the work is really only surfacing or gully raking.’
Are You Learning English? Here Are Our Top English Tips