Definitions for: Soil


[n] material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use); "the land had never been plowed"; "good agricultural soil"
[n] the state of being covered with unclean things
[n] the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock
[v] make soiled, filthy, or dirty; "don't soil your clothes when you play outside!"



Webster (1913) Definition: Soil, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Soiled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Soiling.] [OF. saoler, saouler, to satiate, F. so[^u]ler,
L. satullare, fr. satullus, dim. of satur sated. See
Satire.]
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.


Soil, n. [OE. soile, F. sol, fr. L. solum bottom, soil;
but the word has probably been influenced in form by soil a
miry place. Cf. Saloon, Soil a miry place, Sole of the
foot.]
1. 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.

2. Land; country.

Must I thus leave thee, Paradise? thus leave Thee,
native soil? --Milton.

3. Dung; f[ae]ces; compost; manure; as, night soil.

Improve land by dung and other sort of soils.
--Mortimer.

Soil pipe, a pipe or drain for carrying off night soil.


Soil, v. t.
To enrich with soil or muck; to manure.

Men . . . soil their ground, not that they love the
dirt, but that they expect a crop. --South.


Soil, n. [OF. soil, souil, F. souille, from OF. soillier,
F. souiller. See Soil to make dirty.]
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.

As deer, being stuck, fly through many soils, Yet still
the shaft sticks fast. --Marston.

To take soil, to run into the mire or water; hence, to take
refuge or shelter.

O, sir, have you taken soil here? It is well a man
may reach you after three hours' running. --B.
Jonson.


Soil, v. t.[OE. soilen, OF. soillier, F. souiller,
(assumed) LL. suculare, fr. L. sucula a little pig, dim. of
sus a swine. See Sow, n.]
1. To make dirty or unclean on the surface; to foul; to
dirty; to defile; as, to soil a garment with dust.

Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained.
--Milton.

2. To stain or mar, as with infamy or disgrace; to tarnish;
to sully. --Shak.

Syn: To foul; dirt; dirty; begrime; bemire; bespatter;
besmear; daub; bedaub; stain; tarnish; sully; defile;
pollute.


Soil, v. i.
To become soiled; as, light colors soil sooner than dark
ones.


Soil, n. [See Soil to make dirty, Soil a miry place.]
That which soils or pollutes; a soiled place; spot; stain.

A lady's honor . . . will not bear a soil. --Dryden.

Synonyms: begrime, bemire, colly, dirt, dirt, dirty, filth, grease, grime, grime, ground, grunge, land, stain

Antonyms: clean, make clean

See Also: alluvial soil, alter, badlands, blemish, bog soil, bole, bottom, bottomland, boulder clay, caliche, change, clay, clunch, coastland, contaminate, crock, cultivated land, desert soil, desertic soil, dirtiness, dust, earth, farmland, foul, fuller's earth, gilgai soil, greensward, ground, gumbo, gumbo soil, hardpan, humus, Indian red, indurated clay, laterite, loam, loess, marl, mire, mold, mould, muck, muck up, mud, mud, muddy, muddy up, object, overburden, permafrost, physical object, ploughland, plowland, podsol, podsol soil, podsolic soil, podzol, podzol soil, pollute, prairie soil, rangeland, regosol, residual clay, residual soil, sand, sedimentary clay, silt, slime, smear, sod, splash, spot, subsoil, surface soil, sward, till, tillage, tilled land, tilth, topsoil, tundra soil, turf, uncleanness, undersoil, wetland, wiesenboden

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