siltn.
/sɪlt/, U.S. /sɪlt/ 1.
a. Fine sand, clay, or other soil, carried by moving or running water and deposited as a sediment on the bottom or beach; sometimes occurring as a stratum in soil.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > sediment or alluvium > [noun]
siltc1440
warpingc1440
slitch?a1475
sleech1587
alluvium1665
sediment1685
sullage1691
warp1698
wash1707
washing1707
alluvion1731
silting1739
warp land1794
alluvial1818
siltage1876
flood-loam1880
putty1883
α.
figurative.1870 J. R. Lowell Among my Bks. (1873) 1st Ser. 223 The perpetual silt of some one weakness.1890 H. Caine Bondman iv Such was the grey silt that came up to him that night from the deposits of his memory.β. 1813 Priest View Agric. Bucks. 23 These streams..are suffered to be filled with silth, rubbish, and all sorts of aquatic plants.1839 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 2 99/1 There will be water undoubtedly, as the ground is sand and gravel, with silth below.c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 77 Cylte, soonde, glarea.
1523 J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell 23 Thus stode I in the frytthy forest of Galtres, Ensowkid with sylt of the myry mose.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 529 This Country which the Ocean hath laied to the land,..by sands heaped and cast together, they it terme Silt.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) 191 The great Changes that have been between the Sea and Lands..by casting up Silt and Sand.
1692 J. Ray Misc. Disc. v. 45 The interjacent Fretum having been filled up by the Sill brought down by the River Nilus.
a1707 S. Patrick Comm. Deut. xi. 11 Many times there followed, after the water was gone off, great sicknesses and diseases, by the smell of the silt which it had left behind.
1799 Gen. View Agric. County Lincoln 265 The stratum of silt in this neighbourhood is every where impregnated with salt.
1823 W. Buckland Reliq. Diluvianæ 190 On the east coast of England there is also a considerable addition of silt and mud on some parts.
1863 C. Kingsley Water-babies viii. 295 Before Tom had stood there five minutes he was buried in silt up to his ancles.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) xvii. 280 When the Thames has overflowed its banks it has deposited silt on the neighbouring land.
b. A bed or layer of this matter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > sedimentary formation > [noun] > stratum > stratum by constitution > alluvial sediment
warp1678
silt1881
1881 Rep. Geol. Explor. N.Z. 34 A dyke occurring close to the silts, which stretch from Tokatoka south past the Dwaroa river.
c. Soil Science. Applied spec. to particles whose sizes fall within a specified size range between those of sand and clay and to soils having a specified proportion of such particles (see quots.). Hence silt-grade; silt-size n. (adj.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > [noun] > particle size > specific size
sand1873
silt1873
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > [adjective] > particle size
silt-size1968
1873 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 106 288 It makes a material difference whether the grains of sand contained in a soil or clay are prevalently half a millimeter in diameter, or the tenth or twentieth part of that amount. Sand (or more properly silt) of the latter size is by no means impalpable.
1909 A. G. McCall Physical Properties of Soils 88 Stir up the soil remaining in the centrifugal tube and allow to stand for about one minute, or until all particles larger than silt (0·05 [mm.]) have settled.
1920 A. Holmes Nomencl. Petrol. 211 Siltstone, a very fine-grained sandstone, the particles of which are predominantly of silt grade.
1958 I. W. Cornwall Soils for Archaeologist xi. 125 Once the silt-grade is reached (below 0·06 mm.) a moderate wind is able to transport the grains..for long distances.
1967 Gloss. Highway Engin. Terms (B.S.I.) 23 Silt. (1) A natural sediment of grading finer than sand consisting of granular products of rock weathering: it is gritty to the touch. (2) In soil analysis it comprises the fraction between 0·06 mm and 0·002 mm.
1968 R. W. Fairbridge Encycl. Geomorphol. 675/1 Primary forms of lime include minute grains, incrustations on silt-size grain aggregates and snail shells.
1971 Gloss. Soil Sci. Terms (Soil Sci. Soc. Amer.) 15/1 Silt, a soil separate consisting of particles between 0·05 and 0·002 mm in equivalent diameter.
1972 J. G. Cruickshank Soil Geogr. ii. 55 The products of physical weathering are usually large on the particle size scale; that is, they are stone, gravel, or sand size and less commonly as small as silt size.
1976 L. F. Curtis et al. Soils Brit. Isles i. 3 The mineral matter [of soil] includes particles of clay (less than 2 μm diameter), silt (2–50 μm diameter) and sand (50 μm–2 mm diameter).
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > low rank or condition > the lowest class > [noun] > persons of the lowest class (collectively)
chenaille1340
offal?a1425
putaylea1425
ribaldail1489
abject1526
offscouring1526
dreg1531
outsweeping1535
braggery1548
ribaldry1550
raff1557
sink1574
cattle1579
offscum1579
rabble1579
baggagery1589
scum1590
waste1592
menialty1593
baggage1603
froth1603
refuse1603
tag-rag1609
retriment1615
trasha1616
recrement1622
silts1636
garbage1648
riffle-raffle1668
raffle1670
riff-raff1678
scurf1688
mob1693
scouring1721
ribble-rabble1771
sweeping1799
clamjamphrie1816
ragabash1823
scruff1836
residuum1851
talent1882
1636 P. Heylyn Hist. Sabbath ii. 107 The common prostitutes, such as received the silts of all the towne.
3. A silt-snapper (see Compounds 2).Apparently an alteration of the earlier silk(-snapper).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > unspecified types > [noun]
whalec950
tumbrelc1300
sprout1340
squame1393
codmop1466
whitefish1482
lineshark?a1500
salen1508
glaucus1509
bretcock1522
warcodling1525
razor1530
bassinatc1540
goldeney1542
smy1552
maiden1555
grail1587
whiting1587
needle1589
pintle-fish1591
goldfish1598
puffin fish1598
quap1598
stork1600
black-tail1601
ellops1601
fork-fish1601
sea-grape1601
sea-lizard1601
sea-raven1601
barne1602
plosher1602
whale-mouse1607
bowman1610
catfish1620
hog1620
kettle-fish1630
sharpa1636
carda1641
housewifea1641
roucotea1641
ox-fisha1642
sea-serpent1646
croaker1651
alderling1655
butkin1655
shamefish1655
yard1655
sea-dart1664
sea-pelican1664
Negro1666
sea-parrot1666
sea-blewling1668
sea-stickling1668
skull-fish1668
whale's guide1668
sennet1671
barracuda1678
skate-bread1681
tuck-fish1681
swallowtail1683
piaba1686
pit-fish1686
sand-creeper1686
horned hog1702
soldier1704
sea-crowa1717
bran1720
grunter1726
calcops1727
bennet1731
bonefish1734
Negro fish1735
isinglass-fish1740
orb1740
gollin1747
smelt1776
night-walker1777
water monarch1785
hardhead1792
macaw-fish1792
yellowback1796
sea-raven1797
blueback1812
stumpnose1831
flat1847
butterfish1849
croppie1856
gubbahawn1857
silt1863
silt-snapper1863
mullet-head1866
sailor1883
hogback1893
skipper1898
stocker1904
1863 Jamaica Notes in Intellect. Obs. III. 194 The mode of fishing for deep-water Silts is very effective.
1883 Official Catal. Internat. Fisheries Exhib. (ed. 4) 170 The principal salt-water fishes are..Silts,..King-fish, Barracouta and many others.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
silt-bucket n.
ΚΠ
1884 Internat. Health Exhib. Official Catal. 57/1 Silt-buckets for preventing the choking of drains.
silt grass n.
ΚΠ
1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants Austral. 104 Paspalum distichum,..‘Sea-side Millet’, ‘Water Couch’, ‘Silt Grass’.
silt-land n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > organic soil > loam > silt loam
silt loam1917
silt-land1927
skirt soil1960
1927 Daily Express 11 July 11/3 Both fenland and silt-land in these counties boast rich alluvial soil.
1963 Times 1 Feb. 13/6 Being essentially a study of the silt lands that border the Wash, it did not attempt to deal in detail with the equally interesting Roman occupation of the southern part of the region.
silt-trap n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > filtering or percolating > [noun] > filter or percolator > for silt
silt-trap1946
1946 F. D. Davison Dusty viii. 84 They..were going to clear out the silt-trap of one of the tanks.
1966 E. Palmer Plains of Camdeboo xviii. 301 Dams, water-troughs, silt traps.
b.
silt-bearing adj.
ΚΠ
1884 Manch. Examiner 3 May 4/7 A silt-bearing river like the Mersey.
C2.
silt-ground n. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1863 Jamaica Notes in Intellect. Obs. III. 194 [A canoe] on its way to the Silt-ground at two hundred fathoms depth.
silt loam n. a soil composed at least half of silt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > kind of earth or soil > [noun] > organic soil > loam > silt loam
silt loam1917
silt-land1927
skirt soil1960
1917 J. G. Mosier & A. F. Gustafson Soil Physics & Managem. x. 138 The silt loam soils cover extensive areas in the middle west of the United States and owe their origin to loess.
1957 H. B. Vanderford Managing Southern Soils iv. 93 Surface soils which have medium to coarse textures (sandy loams, silt loams, and clay loams) are suitable for cultivation and relatively easy to keep in good tilth.
silt-snapper n. a Jamaican fish (cf. 3).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > unspecified types > [noun]
whalec950
tumbrelc1300
sprout1340
squame1393
codmop1466
whitefish1482
lineshark?a1500
salen1508
glaucus1509
bretcock1522
warcodling1525
razor1530
bassinatc1540
goldeney1542
smy1552
maiden1555
grail1587
whiting1587
needle1589
pintle-fish1591
goldfish1598
puffin fish1598
quap1598
stork1600
black-tail1601
ellops1601
fork-fish1601
sea-grape1601
sea-lizard1601
sea-raven1601
barne1602
plosher1602
whale-mouse1607
bowman1610
catfish1620
hog1620
kettle-fish1630
sharpa1636
carda1641
housewifea1641
roucotea1641
ox-fisha1642
sea-serpent1646
croaker1651
alderling1655
butkin1655
shamefish1655
yard1655
sea-dart1664
sea-pelican1664
Negro1666
sea-parrot1666
sea-blewling1668
sea-stickling1668
skull-fish1668
whale's guide1668
sennet1671
barracuda1678
skate-bread1681
tuck-fish1681
swallowtail1683
piaba1686
pit-fish1686
sand-creeper1686
horned hog1702
soldier1704
sea-crowa1717
bran1720
grunter1726
calcops1727
bennet1731
bonefish1734
Negro fish1735
isinglass-fish1740
orb1740
gollin1747
smelt1776
night-walker1777
water monarch1785
hardhead1792
macaw-fish1792
yellowback1796
sea-raven1797
blueback1812
stumpnose1831
flat1847
butterfish1849
croppie1856
gubbahawn1857
silt1863
silt-snapper1863
mullet-head1866
sailor1883
hogback1893
skipper1898
stocker1904
1863 Jamaica Notes in Intellect. Obs. III. 194 The deep-water Silt-Snappers include some five different species, all similar in colour.
siltstone n. Geology (see quot. 1920).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > sedimentary rock > [noun] > sandstone > fine sandstone
post1775
siltstone1920
1920 A. Holmes Nomencl. Petrol. 211 Siltstone, a very fine-grained sandstone, the particles of which are predominantly of silt grade.
1946 L. D. Stamp Britain's Struct. & Scenery xii. 116 The lower Carboniferous deposits in the Central Lowlands of Scotland are sandstones, shales, cementstones and siltstones with only occasional bands of limestones.
1977 A. Hallam Planet Earth 264 The graptolites..are often common in offshore black shales and siltstones.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
siltv.
1.
a. intransitive. Of a channel, river-bed, etc.: To become filled or choked up with silt or sediment. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > body of water > channel of water > [verb (intransitive)] > be choked with silt
swarve1485
quar1584
silt1799
1799 Gen. View Agric. County Lincoln 16 [The well] runs equally every year, and in all seasons,..but it is apt to silt up.
1830 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 304 There is naturally a tendency in all estuaries to silt up partially.
1840 Evid. Hull Docks Com. 79 The harbour is silting up at the east point.
1873 G. C. Davies Mountain, Meadow & Mere v. 28 As the years rolled on, the water subsided, the hollows silted up.
1955 Times 10 June 7/3 [The] streets of London silt up with the swelling torrent of motor traffic.
b. To flow or drift in after the manner of silt. Also transferred to pass gradually away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming in > go or come in [verb (intransitive)] > drift in like silt
silt1863
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > go away [verb (intransitive)] > go away quietly or gradually (of things)
to-glidea1000
atslip?c1225
atslikec1400
to pass off1708
cut1836
silt1863
1863 H. Kingsley Austin Elliot I. 33 If the wreck of the Mary Anne was moved, the sand would silt in again.
1892 W. C. Russell List, ye Landsmen iii It seemed to me that the electric mass was silting away north, and that there would come a clear sky in the south presently.
2. transitive.in extended use.a1853 F. W. Robertson Lect. & Addr. Lit. & Social Topics (1858) i. 43 The sand of the desert daily silting up the temples.1860 M. F. Maury Physical Geogr. Sea (ed. 8) x. §481 The whole Atlantic ocean would..be finally silted up with salt.figurative.1855 P. J. Bailey Mystic 59 While Time's last sands silt up the streams of soul.
a. Of silt: To fill, block, or choke up (a channel, the bed of a river or the sea, etc.) by gradual accumulation. Also rarely without up. Chiefly in past participle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > body of water > channel of water > [verb (transitive)] > choke with silt
silta1825
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Silt-up, to obstruct..by a large accumulation of sand.
1832 C. Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 2) II. 275 The deposits which within the historical period have silted up some of our estuaries.
1865 A. Esquiros Cornwall 158 The sands with which the mouth of the Exe is silted.
1875 J. Croll Climate & Time xxix. 469 That the tendency of the sea filling this valley is to silt it up rather than to deepen it.
b. To cover up or over with silt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > formation of features > sedimentation > [verb (transitive)] > alluviate
atterrate1673
sud1787
warp1799
silt1830
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. ii. vi. 145 For a shell-fish dying at the bottom of the sea to leave his shell in the mud, where it becomes silted over and imbedded, happens daily.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 224 If, by the overflow of a river, the plant should become silted up in mud.
Derivatives
ˈsilted adj. also with up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > sediment or alluvium > [adjective]
silty1694
alluvious1731
alluvial1771
alluvian1794
warped1799
alluviated1810
sedimentous1869
silted1890
the world > the earth > water > body of water > channel of water > [adjective] > choked or silted up
silted1890
1890 Clacton News 25 Jan. 2/4 The silted matter from the ditch is generally required to make up the bank.
1960 Archaeologia Cambrensis 109 56 The excavations..revealed a massive stone platform built partly on the peat filling of a silted-up cistern.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1910; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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