sludge

noun

ˈsləj 

1

: mud, mire

especially : a muddy deposit (as on a riverbed) : ooze

2

: a muddy or slushy mass, deposit, or sediment: such as

a

: precipitated solid matter produced by water and sewage treatment processes

b

: muddy sediment in a steam boiler

c

: a precipitate or settling (such as a mixture of impurities and acid) from a mineral oil

3

: slush sense 5

sludgy

ˈslə-jē 

adjective

Synonyms

• guck
• gook
• mire
• muck
• mud
• ooze
• slime
• slop
• slush

Examples of sludge in a Sentence

after a day of heavy rain, the fairgrounds had turned into pure sludge

I can't bring myself to read that sludge.

Recent Examples on the Web

Much of this daily deluge of sludge and cinder was dumped in the harbor, an environmental calamity from which local marine life has never fully recovered. —Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024

McGuire goes back to the same well several times – glimpses of apparitions at the pool’s edge, dark, blood-like sludge surging from beneath, ghoulish boogeymen (and boogeywomen) popping into the frame. —Chris Vognar, Rolling Stone, 5 Jan. 2024

For about the past month, Arizona Lake and Pond Management has relied on different products meant to remove phosphorous and eat away the organic sludge that’s been built up at the bottom of the lake. —Shawn Raymundo, The Arizona Republic, 16 Mar. 2024

Led by Karla Chubb and working with Gilla Band’s Daniel Fox, the Dublin four-piece draws inspiration from Savages, Bauhaus, and LCD Soundsystem, degrading nervous hooks with distortion and sludge but never losing sight of the dancefloor. —Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 5 Jan. 2024

Is there anything more frustrating than putting on a new pair of boots in the colder months, and then, inadvertently, stepping into an ankle-deep sidewalk puddle of sludge? —Todd Plummer, Robb Report, 28 Feb. 2024

In 2022, Maine banned the use of sludge as fertilizer due to contamination with PFAS, a group of chemicals linked to cancers and hormonal problems. —Matt Simon, WIRED, 12 Feb. 2024

The caustic gunk is usually relegated to giant landfills, unless something like an industrial accident unleashes torrents of the sludge, as was unfortunately the case for rural Hungarian residents back in 2010. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 7 Feb. 2024

Five current and former local government officials from across Florida told the Times fertilizer bans are helping their communities decrease pollution that can fuel harmful algal blooms like red tide or toxic blue-green sludge. —Max Chesnes, Sun Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English slugge, perhaps alteration of slicche mud, slush; akin to Old High German slīh mire

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

sludge

noun

ˈsləj 

1

: mud, mire

2

: a muddy or slushy mass

especially : solid matter produced by water and sewage treatment processes

sludgy

ˈsləj-ē 

adjective

Medical Definition

sludge

1 of 2 noun

ˈsləj 

: a semisolid precipitated mass or deposit

biliary sludge

especially : sludged blood

sludge

2 of 2 intransitive verb

sludged; sludging

: to form sludge

positions that cause blood to sludge

—L. K. Altman