silt

silt Definition

silt (silt)

noun

sediment suspended in stagnant water or carried by moving water, that often accumulates on the bottom of rivers, bays, etc., esp. such sediment with particles smaller than sand and larger than clay
soil composed of 80 percent or more silt and less than 12 percent clay

Etymology: ME cylte, prob. < Scand, as in Norw & Dan dial. sylt, salt marsh, akin to OHG sulza, brine: for IE base see salt

transitive verb, intransitive verb

to fill, cover, or choke up with silt

silt Related Forms

sil·ta′·tion (sil tā′s̸hən) noun

silt Synonyms

silt Usage Examples

Object

Converse of object

accumulate: December 2004 Coy Pond Dredging Coy Pond was cleared of some accumulated silt in December.
remove: However, removing the silt is no easy task!
deposit: The photos above and below show the clay silt deposited by the flood water.

Adjective modifier

clayey: A post appeared to have been deliberately removed and the void filled with a bone-rich clayey silt.
friable: Above these is [ 4191 ] friable sandy silt ( 10yr 3/4 dark yellow brown ) with mixed stones.
alluvial: His soil isn't suitable for carrots and parsnips as the alluvial silt has heavy seams running through it which make them bend.
estuarine: These gravels are more resistant to scour and can maintain higher slope angles than the estuarine silts and clays.
sandy: This was found to be due to a very sandy silt being deposited by a side drain.
fertile: Also, when the river floods it leaves behind fertile silt.

Modifies a noun

loam: High risk of erosion silt loam Predominantly silt with very little sand or clay.
traps: The upper lakes intended to act as silt traps are also shallow and any water passing through them warms up before entering the lake.
lagoon: This has formed in the hollows left by the old silt lagoons from the colliery.
deposition: Improving the efficiency of the lower river system, particularly in the tidal reaches, by removing silt deposition regularly.
trap: The water leaves Kingfisher pond over a specially constructed silt trap.
deposit: The silt deposit contributes to the maintenance of fertility of the land in spite of frequent cultivation.

Noun used with modifier

clay: The photos above and below show the clay silt deposited by the flood water.
river: The latter had been carefully covered by a layer fine river silt.

Preposition: with

inclusion: This consisted of a very dark gray clayey silt with inclusions of rubble, gravel and pebbles.

Followed by an intransitive particle

up: The pools today are badly silted up from the waste water from the motorway above.

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