What does "silt" mean?
Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water.
Silt
/sɪlt/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water.
- Grammar: silt is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: alluvion, alluvium, ash, block.
- Useful contrasts: clear, deepening, erode.
- Usage evidence: The river was cloudy with silt.
How to use "silt"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "silt" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "silt" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "silt" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "silt" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "silt" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "alluvion" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "silt", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water. uncountable
"A large tube is then followed over several silt banks to surface after a total dive of 200 m in a large passage containing an active streamway – The San Agustin Way. 5 m before the passage surfaces another line junction is passed, ..."
- 2 mud or clay or small rocks deposited by a river or lake wordnet
- 3 Any material with similar physical characteristics, regardless of its origins or transport. broadly, uncountable
- 4 A particle from 3.9 to 62.5 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale. countable
"Above the lower headcut, phreatophytic mesquite and little leaf sumac hug the banks, drawing pendulate water from the silts remaining from former marsh deposits and sending long taproots into channel stores."
Verb
- 1 To clog or fill with silt. transitive
- 2 become chocked with silt wordnet
- 3 To become clogged with silt. intransitive
"Subject to flooding by the six small rivers coming together just west of the city, the main river below the city has long been shallow and subject to silting. The Communists have both maintained the earlier pattern of dredging the river, and have built a bypass flood canal around the city on the south side to relieve flood pressures. Though dredging can keep the river navigable for small ships, a new artificial port, Sinkang, able to take 10,000 ton ships at all times, was created at T'ang-ku. This is kept open for about two months during winter by icebreakers."
- 4 To flow through crevices; to percolate. ambitransitive
Example
"The river was cloudy with silt."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "silt"?
Common synonyms include: alluvion, alluvium, ash, block, cinder, clinker.
How do you use "silt" in a sentence?
The river was cloudy with silt.
How do you pronounce "silt"?
Pronounced /sɪlt/.
Etymology
PIE word *séh₂ls From Middle English silte, cilte, cylte, perhaps from Middle English silen ("to filter; strain"; equivalent to sile + -t), or cognate with Norwegian and Danish sylt (“salt marsh”), Middle Low German sulte (“salt-marsh”), German Sülze (“meat in aspic”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sultijō (“salty water; brine”). Related to Old English sealt (“salt”).