Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A sedimentary material consisting of very fine particles intermediate in size between sand and clay.
  • intransitive verb To become filled with silt.
  • intransitive verb To fill, cover, or obstruct with silt.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A deposit of mud or fine soil from running or standing water; fine earthy sediment: as, a harbor choked up with silt.
  • To choke, fill, or obstruct with silt or mud: commonly with up.
  • To percolate through crevices; ooze, as water carrying fine sediment.
  • To become obstructed or choked with silt or sediment: with up.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water.
  • transitive verb To choke, fill, or obstruct with silt or mud.
  • intransitive verb To flow through crevices; to percolate.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water.
  • noun Material with similar physical characteristics, whatever its origins or transport.
  • noun geology A particle from 3.9 to 62.5 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale
  • verb transitive To clog or fill with silt.
  • verb intransitive To become clogged with silt.
  • verb transitive To flow through crevices; to percolate.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb become chocked with silt
  • noun mud or clay or small rocks deposited by a river or lake

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, probably of Scandinavian origin; see sal- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English cylte, cognate with Norwegian and Danish sylt ("salt marsh") and Old English sealt ("salt")

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Examples

Comments

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  • Is defined by the Udden-Wentworth scale as having a particle size of 3.90625–62.5 micrometres (0.00015–0.0025 inches)

    February 26, 2007

  • to love life, to love it

    even when you have no stomach for it

    and everything you've held dear

    crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,

    your throat filled with the silt of it.

    - Ellen Bass, untitled poem.

    September 7, 2009