silt
noun
\ ˈsilt
\
\
Definition of silt
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: loose sedimentary material with rock particles usually ¹/₂₀ millimeter or less in diameter
also
: soil containing 80 percent or more of such silt and less than 12 percent of clay
2
: a deposit of sediment (as by a river)
silt
verb
silted;
silting;
silts
Definition of silt (Entry 2 of 2)
: to become choked or obstructed with silt
—often used with up the channel silted up
: to choke, fill, cover, or obstruct with silt or mud
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Other Words from silt
Noun
silty
\ ˈsil-tē
\
adjective
\
adjective
Verb
siltation
\ sil-ˈtā-shən
\
noun
\
noun
Examples of silt in a Sentence
Verb
The entrance to the creek had silted shut.Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Dundon cut down its size by shoveling silt over the pile, and by October, the heap’s core was ashes, the fire out. — Los Angeles Times, "Tim Dundon, ‘Guru of Doo Doo,’ whose compost nourished Altadena’s gardens, dies at 77," 6 Aug. 2019 The buildings were created through a process called silt casting, which used earthen forms as scaffolding to pour concrete. — Bon Appétit, "A Photo Tour of Arcosanti, the Utopian Oasis in the Arizona Desert," 27 June 2019 The first glacier that came into view was the Tokositna, a dramatic ribbon of ice feathered with crevasses and streaked with dark silt. — Anchorage Daily News, "Taking the plunge: Glacier skiing and climbing in the shadow of the Moose’s Tooth," 10 June 2019 The Harris County Flood Control District will be conducting a maintenance project to remove silt from the upstream portion of Taylor Gully in Kingwood. — Kaila Contreras, Houston Chronicle, "Harris County to improve drainage near Elm Grove in Kingwood after May floods," 22 July 2019 Peyto Lake in Canada’s Banff National Park is shockingly blue thanks to meltwater and silt from the Peyto Glacier and the Wapta Icefields nearby. — Matt Mcnulty, PEOPLE.com, "Instagram Influencers Flocking to Toxic Bright Blue Lake as Government Warns Stay Away," 10 July 2019 Yet hundreds of thousands of streams dump silt into our reservoirs and harbors. — Hubert H. (hubert Horatio) Humphrey, Harper's magazine, "Into the Woods," 10 June 2019 At various points, every acequia also boasts a number of channels through which water can be diverted back to the river to ensure silt and rocks don’t block the channels. — Robert Neuwirth, National Geographic, "Centuries-old irrigation system shows how to manage scarce water," 17 May 2019 As rising global temperatures melt Greenland’s glaciers, more silt, sand, and other sediment are being deposited on its shores. — Mary Hui, Quartz, "Singapore needs sand, but its neighbors refuse to sell," 4 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
But neither removes the desert of sand that still silts up the wheels of Indian commerce. — The Economist, "India Inc is growing disenchanted with Narendra Modi," 17 Aug. 2019 Meanwhile, Fort Bend County Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers said crews have de-silted the channel at the north end of the county except for the portion on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) property. — Karen Zurawski, Houston Chronicle, "Officials look for solutions to flooding in Katy, greater Houston area," 9 Apr. 2018 And once that soil was gone, it was gone for good, silting up the seabed and exposing the old bony rock beneath Europe’s soft topside. — Bella Bathurst, Newsweek, "Kill the Plough, Save Our Soils," 29 May 2014 Elsewhere in the state, a smattering of farmers are trying other techniques for capturing nitrate—collecting it in engineered wetlands on their soggier fields, for example, or in silted-in oxbow river bends excavated to hold more water. — National Geographic, "The Simple River-Cleaning Tactics That Big Farms Ignore," 7 Dec. 2017 Soon, piers and warehouses were abandoned, General Electric was poisoning the Hudson with PCBs and the East River had silted up and become a de facto dump, with rusted cars clustering around the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. — Gina Levay, Smithsonian, "How New York City Is Rediscovering Its Maritime Spirit," 29 May 2017 In the end, the studies showed that changes in the tide dynamics would be detrimental to the environment — and that the barrages would silt up very quickly. — Nancy Lord, Alaska Dispatch News, "Fascinating book on tides includes Alaska," 12 Aug. 2017 Soon, piers and warehouses were abandoned, General Electric was poisoning the Hudson with PCBs and the East River had silted up and become a de facto dump, with rusted cars clustering around the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. — Gina Levay, Smithsonian, "How New York City Is Rediscovering Its Maritime Spirit," 2 May 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'silt.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for silt
silt
noun
English Language Learners Definition of silt
(Entry 1 of 2)
: sand, soil, mud, etc., that is carried by flowing water and that sinks to the bottom of a river, pond, etc.
silt
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of silt (Entry 2 of 2)
: to become blocked, filled, or covered with silt
: to block, fill, or cover (something) with silt
See the full definition for silt in the English Language Learners Dictionary
silt
noun
\ ˈsilt
\
\
Kids Definition of silt
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: particles of small size left as sediment from water
2
: a soil made up mostly of silt and containing little clay
silt
verb
silted;
silting
Kids Definition of silt (Entry 2 of 2)
: to fill, cover, or block with silt
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