sediment
the matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid; lees; dregs.
Geology. mineral or organic matter deposited by water, air, or ice.
to deposit as sediment.
to form or deposit sediment.
Origin of sediment
1Other words from sediment
- sed·i·men·tous, adjective
- self-sed·i·ment·ed, adjective
Words that may be confused with sediment
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sediment in a sentence
When we go beyond the top 10 centimeters where animals tend to be burrowing, there’s very little mixing and reworking of the marine sediments, he said.
Preserving a Sense of Wonder in DNA - Issue 92: Frontiers | Virat Markandeya | October 28, 2020 | NautilusErosion at Olorgesailie has destroyed sediment layers dating to the Middle Stone Age transition.
How environmental changes may have helped make ancient humans more adaptable | Bruce Bower | October 21, 2020 | Science NewsThey even turned up in sediment from the Arctic Ocean in northern Canada.
Washing your jeans too much might pose risks to the environment | Sharon Oosthoek | October 12, 2020 | Science News For StudentsThey sequenced DNA in sediment samples from a 15th-century cesspit in Jerusalem and a 14th-century public latrine in Riga.
Archaeologists delved into medieval cesspits to study old gut microbiomes | Kiona N. Smith | October 6, 2020 | Ars TechnicaFor decades, researchers have been finding burned carbon compounds buried within sediments from around the world dating to the period when the dinosaurs were wiped out.
An asteroid didn’t kill the dinosaurs by itself. Earth helped. | Kate Baggaley | September 30, 2020 | Popular-Science
Sandy looked down at the contorted, blackened face, and his disappointment at having been forestalled, sedimented down.
Rimrock Trail | J. Allan DunnThe samples of milk are sedimented in a small centrifuge, and an examination of the sediment made with the microscope.
Outlines of dairy bacteriology | H. L. Russell
British Dictionary definitions for sediment
/ (ˈsɛdɪmənt) /
matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid
material that has been deposited from water, ice, or wind
Origin of sediment
1Derived forms of sediment
- sedimentous (ˌsɛdɪˈmɛntəs), adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for sediment
[ sĕd′ə-mənt ]
Geology Solid fragmented material, such as silt, sand, gravel, chemical precipitates, and fossil fragments, that is transported and deposited by water, ice, or wind or that accumulates through chemical precipitation or secretion by organisms, and that forms layers on the Earth's surface. Sedimentary rocks consist of consolidated sediment.
Particles of solid matter that settle out of a suspension to the bottom of the liquid.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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