Loam is soil that is good for growing crops and plants in because it contains a lot of decayed vegetable matter and does not contain too much sand or clay.
loam in British English
(ləʊm)
noun
1.
rich soil consisting of a mixture of sand, clay, and decaying organic material
2.
a paste of clay and sand used for making moulds in a foundry, plastering walls, etc
verb
3. (transitive)
to cover, treat, or fill with loam
Derived forms
loamy (ˈloamy)
adjective
loaminess (ˈloaminess)
noun
Word origin
Old English lām; related to Old Swedish lēmo clay, Old High German leimo
loam in American English
(loʊm)
noun
1.
a rich soil composed of clay, sand, and some organic matter
2.
a mixture of moistened clay, sand, and some organic matter, as straw, used in plastering, making foundry molds, etc.
3. Popularly
any rich, dark soil
verb transitive
4.
to fill or cover with loam
Derived forms
loamy (ˈloamy)
adjectiveWord forms: ˈloamier or ˈloamiest
Word origin
ME lome < OE lam: see lime1
Examples of 'loam' in a sentence
loam
Even the loam of upland pastures is open and rocky.
Eddison, Sydney A Patchwork Garden: Unexpected Pleasures from a Country Garden (1990)
Light sandy and silty soils tend to be deficient, whereas clay soils and loams are usually rich.
Stickland, Sue Planning the Organic Herb Garden (1986)
The presence of loam in potting composts does increase the margin for error, both when watering and feeding.
The Sun (2016)
The heavy loam soil, once tilled by horses, is unforgiving to modern farm machinery.