silt 1 of 2

noun

Definition of siltnext
as in sediment
soil made chiefly of loose sedimentary material that is carried by flowing water and that sinks to the bottom of a river, pond, etc.

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silt

2 of 2

verb

as in to fur

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of silt
Noun
The water drew back from the house, left a thick, stinking silt across the floor. — Literary Hub, 16 July 2026 The valley floor is silt and loess left by the ice-age Missoula Floods, the glacial-lake megafloods that repeatedly drowned the region. — Paul Caputo, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Verb
Historically, the region itself was created by the natural flooding and silting processes of the Mississippi River, which flows across the breadth of the state before spilling into the Gulf of America. — David Blackmon, Forbes.com, 18 June 2025 Its primary purpose is not to control people or accumulate power, except perhaps incrementally, in the form of a kind of silting up of canonical importance. — Literary Hub, 22 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for silt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for silt
  1. sediment
  2. fur
  3. alluvium
  4. flood
  5. loess
  6. gridlock
  7. detritus
  8. swamp
Noun
  • Permafrost on the mountains, the continuously frozen soil and sediment, is now changing, said Byers.
    — Ava Berger, NPR, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Ice also holds mountains together, in the form of permafrost, a mix of soil, rock, sediment and ice.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of sediment
Verb
  • Measure the area to figure out how many panels and furring strips are needed.
    — Tribune Content Agency, Baltimore Sun, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Use shims to keep the panels level and apply a construction adhesive such as Liquid Nails to fasten them to the furring strips.
    — Tribune Content Agency, Baltimore Sun, 14 Apr. 2026
Definition of fur
Noun
  • What used to be open water was heading towards alluvium, and oblivion.
    — Rob Crossan, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Mar. 2026
  • At some point, alluvium buried the entire tusk, possibly from major storm flooding.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2024
Definition of alluvium
Verb
  • The combination of storm surge and tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline.
    — MIAMI HERALD HURRICANE BOT, Miami Herald, 31 Aug. 2026
  • And on July 12, 2008, two undocumented immigrants drowned as a wash near Nogales flooded in a heavy thunderstorm.
    — N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of flood
Noun
  • The base played a critical role in national defense, housing a command bunker, planted deep into the regional loess, that was designed to withstand a nuclear blast.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
  • The Rhône's predominantly granite soils versus Walla Walla's basalt bedrock, riverbed cobbles, and windblown loess.
    — Paul Caputo, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of loess
Verb
  • But the debate is more about whether the opposition coalition can split the vote, strip Hichilema’s UPND of its working legislative majority, and threaten to gridlock reforms.
    — Tiisetso Motsoeneng, semafor.com, 29 July 2026
  • Campaign financing, taking money from special interests, leads not only to gridlock but also to an inability for political parties to act in good faith on their constituents’ behalf.
    — Linh Tat, Oc Register, 5 May 2026
Definition of gridlock
Noun
  • The past is not so much foreign as free, free to anyone who is willing to do the work, to enter the past with a spirit of curiosity and a willingness to conjure a living world out of the detritus that history leaves behind.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Still, even with Ellison’s $111 billion WBD takeover plan under threat from a state attorneys general antitrust suit, $4 million and change is sofa detritus to the son of Larry Ellison.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of detritus
Verb
  • Prosecutors said Hernandez piloted the boat into a swell and had accelerated the throttle to try to pass through it until the swell swamped the bow of the boat, capsizing it immediately, a complaint alleged.
    — Martin Goillandeau, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Baxter swamped Elizabeth Accomando, 59% to 41%, in the Republican primary for this westernmost seat on the seven-member commission, despite a string of missteps that would disqualify most other candidates.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of swamp

Browse Nearby Words

silly
silt
silted
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Cite this Entry

“Silt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/silt. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on silt

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about silt

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