View synonyms for topsoil

topsoil

[ top-soil ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

topsoil

/ ˈtɒpˌsɔɪl /

topsoil

/ tŏp′soil′ /

The upper portion of a soil, usually dark colored and rich in organic material. It is more or less equivalent to the upper portion of an A horizon in an ABC soil.

topsoil

The loss of topsoil through erosion is a major agricultural problem.

Most of the land-based biological activity of the Earth takes place here.

Origin of topsoil¹

First recorded in 1860–65; top ¹ + soil ¹

In Brazil the best soil is known as terra roxa, a topsoil of red clay three or four feet thick with a gravel subsoil.

Bless the red-skins who bred maize, the great preserver of life and damn them for breeding maize the great destroyer of topsoil.

The Indian celt no doubt fell from the topsoil while the trench in which the wall was built was being excavated.

The topsoil and the humus may be a little mixed, but we are not going to sort them out by hand.

The prairie vole makes a tortuous network of paths through the grass and honeycombs the topsoil with its tunnels.

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