Adjacent Words

Silt definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SILT, n. Saltness, or salt marsh or mud.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: mud or clay or small rocks deposited by a river or lake v
1: become chocked with silt; "The river silted up" [syn: silt up, silt]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English cylte, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect sylt beach flooded at high tide; akin to Old High German sulza salt marsh, Old English sealt salt Date: 15th century 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) • silty adjective II. verb Date: 1799 intransitive verb to become choked or obstructed with silt — often used with up <the channel silted up> transitive verb to choke, fill, cover, or obstruct with silt or mud <the beaver had silted the creek — Hugh Fosburgh> • siltation noun

Britannica Concise

Sediment particles 0.00016-0.0024 in. (0.004-0.06 mm) in diameter, regardless of mineral type. Silt is easily transported by moving currents but settles in still water. An unconsolidated aggregate of silt particles is also called silt, whereas a consolidated aggregate is called siltstone. Silt deposits formed by wind are known as loess. Sediments are seldom composed entirely of silt but rather are a mixture of clay, silt, and sand. Clay-rich silt, upon consolidation, frequently develops parting along bedding surfaces and is then called shale. If parting does not develop, the massive rock is called mudstone.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. sediment deposited by water in a channel, harbour, etc. --v.tr. & intr. (often foll. by up) choke or be choked with silt. Derivatives: siltation n. silty adj. Etymology: ME, perh. rel. to Da., Norw. sylt, OLG sulta, OHG sulza salt marsh, formed as SALT

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Silt Silt, n. [OE. silte gravel, fr. silen to drain, E. sile; probably of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. sila, prob. akin to AS. se['o]n to filter, s[=i]gan to fall, sink, cause to sink, G. seihen to strain, to filter, OHG. sihan, Icel. s[=i]>a, Skr. sic to pour; cf. Gr. ??? moisture. Cf. Sig, Sile.] Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Silt Silt, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Silted; p. pr. & vb. n. Silting.] To choke, fill, or obstruct with silt or mud.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Silt Silt, v. i. To flow through crevices; to percolate.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Silt is fine sand, soil, or mud which is carried along by a river. The lake was almost solid with silt and vegetation.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Sediment, deposit, alluvium.

Moby Thesaurus

alluvion, alluvium, ash, cinder, clinker, debris, deposit, deposition, deposits, detritus, diluvium, draff, dregs, drift, dross, ember, feces, froth, grounds, lees, loess, moraine, offscum, ooze, precipitate, precipitation, scoria, scree, scum, sediment, settlings, sinter, slag, sludge, smut, soot, sublimate