1
: loose sedimentary material with rock particles usually ¹/₂₀ millimeter or less in diameter
also
: soil containing 80 percent or more of such silt and less than 12 percent of clay
2
: a deposit of sediment (as by a river)
silted; silting; silts
: to become choked or obstructed with silt
—often used with up
the channel silted up
: to choke, fill, cover, or obstruct with silt or mud
Examples of silt in a Sentence
Verb
The entrance to the creek had silted shut.
Recent Examples on the Web
Dinah Voyles Pulver, The Enquirer, 12 June 2024
The point of the 1,200-mile Grand Canal was to bring grain from the wet southern part of China to the dry north, which allowed water indigenous to the north to be stored for later use or left in the Yellow River in order to limit silt buildup and so prevent flooding.
—James E. Nickum, Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2010
Erica Gies, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2018
All the while, the Guadalquivir River, which allowed ships into Seville, began to silt up, forcing trade southward to the coastal town of Cádiz.
—Walker Mimms, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2023
See all Example Sentences for silt 
Noun
For example, studies report seasons have been extended by warmer waters and an increase in extreme rainfall washes more silt into waterways.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, The Enquirer, 12 June 2024
The point of the 1,200-mile Grand Canal was to bring grain from the wet southern part of China to the dry north, which allowed water indigenous to the north to be stored for later use or left in the Yellow River in order to limit silt buildup and so prevent flooding.
—James E. Nickum, Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2010
Verb
For his big plan, Yu can use them along with geographic information system (GIS) and satellite imagery to track China’s landscape changes as urbanization spreads, as estuaries and deltas silt up, as water starts to move differently across landscapes and cityscapes.
—Erica Gies, Scientific American, 1 Dec. 2018
All the while, the Guadalquivir River, which allowed ships into Seville, began to silt up, forcing trade southward to the coastal town of Cádiz.
—Walker Mimms, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2023
See all Example Sentences for silt
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'silt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near silt
Cite this Entry
“Silt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/silt. Accessed 17 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
silt
2 of 2 verb
: to make or become choked, blocked, filled, or covered with silt
the river channel silted up
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