gold fever

greed and excitement caused by a gold rush.

Origin of gold fever

First recorded in 1840–50

There is also the son of a baronet here, who came out in the time of the gold-fever.

A Boy's Voyage Round the World |The Son of Samuel Smiles
We leave this very fantastic and unhealthy land—now smitten with Gold-fever as well as other maladies—to-morrow.

The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn, Volume 1 |Elizabeth Bisland
Henry got the gold-fever back in '49, him and a lot of other young fellers, and nothin' would do but he must go to California.

The Land of Long Ago |Eliza Calvert Hall
During my stay in Melbourne the gold-fever was at its height.

My Life in Many States and in Foreign Lands |George Francis Train

Such is the haste with which an idea is acted upon when the gold-fever has seized its victim.

The Great Gold Rush |W. H. P. (William Henry Pope) Jarvis