Soil
[sɒɪl] or [sɔɪl]
Definition
(noun.) the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock.
Checker: Rene--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) 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; as, to soil a horse.
(n.) 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.
(n.) Land; country.
(n.) Dung; faeces; compost; manure; as, night soil.
(v. t.) To enrich with soil or muck; to manure.
(n.) 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.
(n.) To make dirty or unclean on the surface; to foul; to dirty; to defile; as, to soil a garment with dust.
(n.) To stain or mar, as with infamy or disgrace; to tarnish; to sully.
(v. i.) To become soiled; as, light colors soil sooner than dark ones.
(n.) That which soils or pollutes; a soiled place; spot; stain.
Editor: Peter
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Foul, dirty, stain, pollute, sully, tarnish, defile, taint, contaminate, bedaub, begrime, besmear, bespatter, make foul.
n. [1]. Stain, blot, spot, tarnish.[2]. Mould, loam, earth, ground.[3]. Land, country.
Checker: Neil
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Stain, tarnish, begrime, befoul, contaminate
ANT:Purify, bleach, cleanse, absterge
Typed by Joan
Definition
n. dirt: dung: foulness: a spot or stain: a marshy place in which a hunted boar finds refuge.—v.t. to make dirty: to stain: to manure.—v.i. to take a soil: to tarnish.—n. Soil′iness stain: foulness.—adj. Soil′less destitute of soil.—ns. Soil′-pipe an upright discharge-pipe which receives the general refuse from water-closets &c. in a building; Soil′ure (Shak.) stain: pollution.
n. the ground: the mould on the surface of the earth which nourishes plants: country.—adj. Soil′-bound attached to the soil.—n. Soil′-cap the covering of soil on the bed-rock.—adj. Soiled having soil.
v.t. to feed at the stall for the purpose of fattening.
Typed by Amalia
Examples
- Commercial fertilizers generally contain nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash in amounts varying with the requirements of the soil. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- It will require a very great one to enable them to do so in the rude produce of the soil. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- For this reason, they have to depend solely upon nitrogenous compounds which are present in the soil and are soluble in water. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- The system of labor would have soon exhausted the soil and left the people poor. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Winter seemed conquering her spring; the mind's soil and its treasures were freezing gradually to barren stagnation. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- But this complement may be much inferior to what, with other laws and institutions, the nature of its soil, climate, and situation, might admit of. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- Similarly, the soil is formed from the overhanging mountains; it is washed as sediment into the sea; it is elevated, after consolidation, into the overhanging mountains. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- During years of highly successful farming, during which Hutton introduced new methods in Berwickshire, he was interested in meteorology, and in geology as related to soils. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- This question between us is a question of soils and seasons, and patience and pains, Mr. Gardener. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Pure siliceous sands are very valuable for the manufacture of glass, for making mortar, filters, ameliorating dense clay soils, for making molds in founding and for many other purposes. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- There were ploughs which were made heavy or light as the different soils required, and there were a variety of farm implements, such as spades, hoes, harrows and rakes. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The immense improvements and discoveries in the character of soils and fertilisers have already been alluded to. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- But America, an immense territory, favoured by nature with all advantages of climate, soils, great navigable rivers, lakes, &c. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- In tunneling under the river, nearly every conceivable combination of rocks and soils were met, but for the most part the material was silt. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- On the ledge at the side, were an empty laudanum-bottle and a tortoise-shell handled penknife--soiled, but not with ink. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- His spirits had risen, and he heartily enjoyed a good slip in the moist earth under the hedgerow, which soiled his perfect summer trousers. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Photographs can be transferred and preserved for years which would have been soiled, faded, and ruined if allowed to remain on the card. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- They were much soiled, but otherwise unhurt. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The sea they turned into a murderous alley and a soiled road of commerce, disputed like the dirty land of a city every inch of it. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Each put on one nice light glove, and carried one soiled one, and all pronounced the effect quite easy and fine. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- It was a history of the lives and trials of great criminals; and the pages were soiled and thumbed with use. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
Editor: Winthrop