Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To feed (livestock) with soilage.
- noun The top layer of the earth's surface in which plants can grow, consisting of rock and mineral particles mixed with decayed organic matter and having the capability of retaining water.
- noun A particular kind of earth or ground.
- noun Country; land.
- noun The agricultural life.
- noun A place or condition favorable to growth; a breeding ground.
- intransitive verb To make dirty, particularly on the surface.
- intransitive verb To disgrace; tarnish.
- intransitive verb To corrupt; defile.
- intransitive verb To dirty with excrement.
- intransitive verb To become dirty, stained, or tarnished.
- noun The state of being soiled.
- noun A stain.
- noun Filth, sewage, or refuse.
- noun Manure, especially human excrement, used as fertilizer.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A marshy or wet place to which a hunted boar resorts for reruge; hence, a wet place, stream, or water sought for by other game, as deer.
- To stall-feed with green food; feed for the purpose of fattening.
- To solve; resolve.
- To absolve; assoil.
- noun Any foul matter upon another substance; foulness.
- noun Stain; tarnish; spot; defilement or taint.
- noun Manure; compost. Compare
night-soil . - noun The ground; the earth.
- noun Land; country; native land.
- noun A mixture of fine earthy material with more or less organic matter resulting from the growth and decomposition of vegetation on the surface of the ground, or from the decay of animal matter (manure) artificially supplied.
- noun In soldering, a mixture of size and lampblack applied around the parts to be joined to prevent the adhesion of melted solder.
- noun Same as
syle . - A dialectal variant of
sile . - noun A dialectal variant of
sill . - To make dirty on the surface; dirty; defile; tarnish; sully; smirch; contaminate.
- To dung; manure.
- To take on dirt; become soiled; take a soil or stain; tarnish: as, silver soils sooner than gold.
- noun A young coal fish.
- In plumbing, to paint (the ends of pipes about to be joined) by wiping (them) with soil. See
soil , n., 4.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To feed, as cattle or horses, in the barn or an inclosure, with fresh grass or green food cut for them, instead of sending them out to pasture; hence (such food having the effect of purging them), to purge by feeding on green food.
- noun The upper stratum of the earth; the mold, or that compound substance which furnishes nutriment to plants, or which is particularly adapted to support and nourish them.
- noun Land; country.
- noun Dung; fæces; compost; manure.
- noun a pipe or drain for carrying off night soil.
- transitive verb To enrich with soil or muck; to manure.
- noun A marshy or miry place to which a hunted boar resorts for refuge; hence, a wet place, stream, or tract of water, sought for by other game, as deer.
- noun to run into the mire or water; hence, to take refuge or shelter.
- intransitive verb To become soiled.
- noun That which soils or pollutes; a soiled place; spot; stain.
- transitive verb To make dirty or unclean on the surface; to foul; to dirty; to defile.
- transitive verb To stain or mar, as with infamy or disgrace; to tarnish; to sully.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable A mixture of
sand andorganic material, used to support plant growth. - noun uncountable The unconsolidated mineral or organic material on the immediate surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land plants.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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The soil that is found resting on the rocks from which it was formed is known as _residual soil_.
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The part of the soil which the water carried away to form the rich valley lands and deltas is known as _alluvial soil_.
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When the disintegrated rock consists of quite large particles, the soil is called a _gravel soil_.
The Home Medical Library, Volume V (of VI) Kenelm Winslow
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It was quite clear that the plants as they died would _decay in very wet soil_, and so the conditions are very different from those we have just been studying where the plants _decay in soil that is only moist_.
Lessons on Soil E. J. Russell
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With this simple statement in view, we are quite prepared to consider the various conditions of soil, for the purpose of determining how far these will influence the future prospects of the crop, and we shall accordingly at once proceed to examine carefully into the _mechanical relations of the soil_.
Farm drainage The Principles, Processes, and Effects of Draining Land with Stones, Wood, Plows, and Open Ditches, and Especially with Tiles Henry Flagg French
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When soil is formed largely of clay we speak of it as a _heavy soil_.
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The unit of soil classification is the _soil type_, which is a soil having agricultural unity, as determined by texture, chemical character, topography, and climate.
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Never forget that the most sacred right in the world is the right to the soil which a man wishes to till himself, and the most sacred sacrifice is the blood which he spills for this soil_. [
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Those guys will clear out all the lead and heavy metals in soil in a year or two … you have to burn them at harvest, but in a few years the soil is more or less pure.
Gov. Granholm (D, MI) called to call out the National Guard. | RedState 2010
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The term soil organic matter (SOM) is used to describe the organic constituents in the soil (tissues from dead plants and animals, products produced as these decompose and the soil microbial biomass).
Soil organic carbon 2008
ruzuzu commented on the word soil
So why don't people hate the word soil the same way they hate the word moist? Soil always reminds me of night soil or soylent green. Moist always reminds me of delicious cake.
February 26, 2013
ry commented on the word soil
no I agree. It makes me think of the phrase soil oneself. Ew. Even though I find the phrase in one's own filth somehow hilarious.
February 26, 2013
bilby commented on the word soil
I love the expression night soil, especially in a honey wagon.
Perhaps soil has more poise than moist.
February 26, 2013
bilby commented on the word soil
See also sile.
June 29, 2022