Mulch

//mʌlt͡ʃ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any material used to cover the top layer of soil to protect, insulate, or decorate it, or to discourage weeds or retain moisture. countable, uncountable

    "An organic mulch is a mulch made of natural substances such as leaves or grass clippings."

  2. 2
    a protective covering of rotting vegetable matter spread to reduce evaporation and soil erosion wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To apply mulch.

    "Mulch your vegetable garden to retain moisture and keep weeds down."

  2. 2
    cover with mulch wordnet
  3. 3
    To turn into mulch.

    "I decided to mulch the grass clippings."

Synonyms

All synonyms
backsetcultivateculturecutdelvedig

Example

More examples

"He was spreading mulch in the flower beds."

Etymology

Probably from Middle English melsche, molsh (“soft”), from Old English melsċ, milisċ (“mellow; mild; sweet”, literally “honeyed”), probably from Proto-Germanic *mili (“honey”). Compare Icelandic milska (“a honeyed beverage”).

Related phrases

inorganic mulchliving mulchmulch depthmulching mowerorganic mulch

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.