Adjacent Words

Soil definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SOIL, v.t.
1. To make dirty on the surface; to foul; to dirt; to stain; to defile; to tarnish; to sull; as, to soil a garment with dust. Out wonted ornaments now soil'd and stain'd.
2. To cover or tinge with any thing extraneous; as, to soil the earth with blood.
3. To dung; to manure.
TO SOIL A HORSE, is to purge him by giving him fresh grass.
TO SOIL A CATTLE, in husbandry, is to feed them with grass daily mowed for them, instead of pasturing them.
SOIL, n.
1. Dirt; and foul matter upon another substance; foulness; apot.
2. Stain; tarnish. A lady's honor will not bear a soil.
3. The upper stratum of the earth; the mold, or that compound substance with furnishes nutriment to plants, or which is particulary adapted to support and nourish them.
4. Land; country. We love our native soil.
5. Dung; compost. Improve land by dung and other sort of soils.
TO TAKE SOIL, to run into the water, as a deer when pursued.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the state of being covered with unclean things [syn: dirt, filth, grime, soil, stain, grease, grunge]
2: the part of the earth's surface consisting of humus and disintegrated rock [syn: soil, dirt]
3: 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" [syn: land, ground, soil]
4: the geographical area under the jurisdiction of a sovereign state; "American troops were stationed on Japanese soil" [syn: territory, soil] v
1: make soiled, filthy, or dirty; "don't soil your clothes when you play outside!" [syn: dirty, soil, begrime, grime, colly, bemire] [ant: clean, make clean]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French soiller, suiller, from Old French soil wallow of a wild boar, abyss, from Latin solium chair, bathtub; akin to Latin sed?re to sit — more at sit Date: 13th century transitive verb 1. to stain or defile morally ; corrupt, pollute 2. to make unclean especially superficially ; dirty 3. to blacken or taint (as a person's reputation) by word or deed <revelations that soiled his name> intransitive verb to become soiled or dirty II. noun Date: 1501 1. a. soilage, stain <protect a dress from soil> b. moral defilement ; corruption 2. something that spoils or pollutes: as a. refuse b. sewage c. dung, excrement III. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, soil, piece of land, from Vulgar Latin *solium, alteration of Latin solea sole, sandal, foundation timber — more at sole Date: 14th century 1. firm land ; earth 2. a. the upper layer of earth that may be dug or plowed and in which plants grow b. the superficial unconsolidated and usually weathered part of the mantle of a planet and especially of the earth 3. country, land <our native soil> 4. the agricultural life or calling 5. a medium in which something takes hold and develops IV. transitive verb Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1605 to feed (livestock) in the barn or an enclosure with fresh grass or green food; also to purge (livestock) by feeding on green food

Britannica Concise

Earthen material that covers land surfaces and is formed by the action of natural physical, chemical, and biological forces on the unconsolidated residue of rocks and minerals on the earth's surface. The most important constituents of soil are crystalline clay and organic matter. Soil is produced primarily by weathering and leaching. Environmental factors such as rainfall, topography, and vegetation influence soil formation and properties, as do the activities of some animals, so that very different soils may be formed from the same parent material.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 the upper layer of earth in which plants grow, consisting of disintegrated rock usu. with an admixture of organic remains (alluvial soil; rich soil). 2 ground belonging to a nation; territory (on British soil). Phrases and idioms: soil mechanics the study of the properties of soil as affecting its use in civil engineering. soil science pedology. Derivatives: soilless adj. soily adj. Etymology: ME f. AF, perh. f. L solium seat, taken in sense of L solum ground 2. v. & n. --v.tr. 1 make dirty; smear or stain with dirt (soiled linen). 2 tarnish, defile; bring discredit to (would not soil my hands with it). --n. 1 a dirty mark; a stain, smear, or defilement. 2 filth; refuse matter. Phrases and idioms: soil pipe the discharge-pipe of a lavatory. Etymology: ME f. OF suiller, soiller, etc., ult. f. L sucula dimin. of sus pig 3. v.tr. feed (cattle) on fresh-cut green fodder (orig. for purging). Etymology: perh. f. SOIL(2)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Soil 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Soil 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Soil 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Soil 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Soil 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(soils, soiling, soiled) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Soil is the substance on the surface of the earth in which plants grow. We have the most fertile soil in Europe. ...regions with sandy soils. N-MASS 2. You can use soil in expressions like British soil to refer to a country's territory. The issue of foreign troops on Turkish soil is a sensitive one. = territory N-UNCOUNT: with supp 3. If you soil something, you make it dirty. (FORMAL) Young people don't want to do things that soil their hands... He raised his eyes slightly as though her words might somehow soil him. = dirty VERB: V n, V n • soiled ...a soiled white apron. = dirty ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Foul, dirty, stain, pollute, sully, tarnish, defile, taint, contaminate, daub, bedaub, begrime, besmear, bespatter, make foul, bemire. II. n. 1. Dirt, filth, foulness, foul matter. 2. Stain, blot, spot, tarnish, defilement, taint, blemish. 3. Mould, loam, earth, ground. 4. Land, country.

Moby Thesaurus

abuse, acres, adobe, airspace, alluvion, alluvium, arable land, area, attaint, bedaub, befoul, begrime, belt, benasty, besmear, besmirch, besmoke, besmutch, besoil, bespatter, bestain, betray, black, blacken, blot, blotch, blow upon, blur, bole, brand, call names, censure, china clay, clay, clod, confines, contaminate, continental shelf, corridor, corrupt, country, crust, darken, daub, debauch, deceive, defame, defile, deflower, demoralize, denigrate, department, despoil, dirt, dirty, disapprove, discolor, disgrace, disparage, district, division, drabble, draggle, dregs, dry land, dust, earth, engage in personalities, environs, excrement, expose, expose to infamy, filth, force, foul, freehold, gibbet, glebe, grassland, ground, gumbo, hang in effigy, heap dirt upon, heartland, hinterland, humus, kaolin, land, landholdings, lead astray, lithosphere, loam, loess, marginal land, mark, marl, mess, milieu, mire, mislead, mold, motherland, muck, muckrake, mucky, mud, muddy, murk, nasty, neighborhood, offshore rights, part, parts, pillory, place, pollute, porcelain clay, precincts, premises, purlieus, quarter, rape, ravage, ravish, real estate, real property, red clay, refuse, region, regolith, reprimand, revile, ruin, salient, sand, scorch, sear, section, seduce, silt, singe, slubber, sludge, slur, smear, smirch, smoke, smooch, smouch, smudge, smut, smutch, sod, soilage, soilure, space, spoil, spot, stain, stigmatize, subaerial deposit, subsoil, sully, taint, tar, tarnish, terra, terra firma, terrain, territory, the country, three-mile limit, throw mud at, till, topsoil, turf, twelve-mile limit, vicinage, vicinity, vilify, violate, vitiate, waste matter, woodland, zone