Definitions

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

  • noun A low-lying place, such as a pit, that receives drainage.
  • noun A cesspool.
  • noun A hole at the lowest point of a mine shaft into which water is drained in order to be pumped out.
  • noun The crankcase or oil reservoir of an internal-combustion engine.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A puddle or pool of dirty water.
  • noun A pond of water reserved for salt-works.
  • noun In mining: The bottom of a shaft in which water is allowed to collect, in order that it may be pumped or otherwise raised to the surface or to the level of the adit. Also called in England, in some mining districts, a lodge.
  • noun A shaft connecting one level with another, but not reaching the surface; a winze.
  • noun A round pit of stone, lined with clay, for receiving metal on its first fusion.
  • noun In an electrolytic tank, a compartment separated from the rest by a low dividing-wall.

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

  • noun (Metal.) A round pit of stone, lined with clay, for receiving the metal on its first fusion.
  • noun The cistern or reservoir made at the lowest point of a mine, from which is pumped the water which accumulates there.
  • noun A pond of water for salt works.
  • noun Prov. Eng. A puddle or dirty pool.
  • noun a fuse used in blasting under water.
  • noun (Mining) the men who sink the sump in a mine.

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

  • noun A hollow or pit into which liquid drains, such as a cesspool, cesspit or sink.
  • noun The lowest part of a mine shaft into which water drains.
  • noun A completely flooded cave passage, sometimes passable by diving.
  • noun automotive The crankcase or oil reservoir of an internal combustion engine.
  • noun nautical The pit at the lowest point in a circulating or drainage system (FM 55-501).
  • noun construction An intentional depression around a drain or scupper that promotes drainage.
  • verb transitive Of a cave passage, to end in a sump, or to fill completely with water on occasion.

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

  • noun a well or other hole in which water has collected
  • noun a covered cistern; waste water and sewage flow into it
  • noun an oil reservoir in an internal combustion engine

Etymologies

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

[Middle English sompe, marsh, from Middle Low German sump or from Middle Dutch somp. Sense 2, from German Sumpf, swamp, sump, from Middle High German, swamp.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word sump.

Examples

  • In the winter Francis had sat in the utility room downstairs, in the corner of the room called the sump area, a dugout rough and rusty looking, where the pipes all meet in vertical poles.

    Animals in Reverse Ann Bogle 2011

  • Also, the sump was an above hole pump so it meant cutting the cap to fit the pipes in and sealing it with a couple of tubes of silicone.

    Projects You Shouldn’t Try To DIY | Lifehacker Australia 2009

  • The car and all its parts are original - even the oil in the sump is the very same as from 20 years ago.

    Home 2009

  • Any openings in the basement floor must also be sealed, such as sump baskets and bathtub drains.

    Reuben's Home Inspection Blog - Part 2 2009

  • I was fine climbing into the lake up to chest level, and edging into the crevice leading to what was described to me as a "sump" (a short submerged passage) but what I hadn't realized was that getting into the sump required getting my body through a narrow space with not one but two projecting chert ridges.

    a day without a bruise is wasted. slash_girl 2008

  • There was some kind of sump here, or else the base of the tunnel had collapsed into a cavern.

    Sharpe's Escape Cornwell, Bernard 2003

  • In the Eighties, they pushed through the first, 600ft flooded section or 'sump' to find new air space beneath a thundering waterfall.

    Home | Mail Online 2010

  • Although radon can seep through concrete, homes that have any cracks or openings in the foundation such as sump pits or crawl spaces may be at higher risk.

    News from www.nptelegraph.com 2009

  • He look des lack he'd los 'sump'n fer a day er so atter de ham wuz tuk off, en didn' 'pear ter know w'at ter do wid hisse'f; en fine'ly he up'n tuk'n tied a lightered-knot ter a string, en hid it under de flo 'er his cabin, en w'en nobody wuzn' lookin 'he'd take it out en hang it roun' his neck, en go off in de woods en holler en sing; en he allus tied it roun 'his neck w'en he went ter sleep.

    Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1995, Memorial Issue Various

  • He look des lack he'd los 'sump'n fer a day er so atter de ham wuz tuk off, en didn' 'pear ter know w'at ter do wid hisse'f; en fine'ly he up'n tuk'n tied a lightered-knot ter a string, en hid it under de flo 'er his cabin, en w'en nobody wuzn' lookin 'he'd take it out en hang it roun' his neck, en go off in de woods en holler en sing; en he allus tied it roun 'his neck w'en he went ter sleep.

    Dave's Neckliss 1889

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "Isaac's request swept through the slums and rookeries. It traveled the alternative architecture thrown up in the human sumps." From China Mieville's Perdido Street Station.

    October 1, 2011