red soil

noun

Definition of red soil

: any of a group of zonal soils that develop in a warm temperate moist climate under deciduous or mixed forests and that have thin organic and organic-mineral layers overlying a yellowish-brown leached layer resting on a red horizon marked by illuviation

— called also red podzolic soil

Examples of red soil in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Before long, severe thunderstorm warnings were hoisted as the city was plunged into a menacing mass of rain, lightning and burnt-red soil. — Matthew Cappucci, Washington Post, "‘One of the most incredible sights’: Monster dust storm sweeps across Southern Arizona," 10 July 2018 The second tsunami rolled across a far larger swath of red soil, almost 400,000 square miles, and traveled further inland as well, more than 400 miles. — William Herkewitz, Popular Mechanics, "There Were Mega-Tsunamis on Mars," 19 May 2016 Those red soils, too, are the product of Mount Konocti, which once smothered its radius with blazing, mineral-rich lava. — Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, "The rise of the Red Hills of Lake County," 1 June 2018 This time of year, Shawn Holladay is usually sitting atop a tractor, laying cotton seeds into rows of red soil on his farm here on the High Plains. — Jim Carlton, WSJ, "Farmers Across High Plains Brace for Hard Times as Drought Bears Down," 13 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'red soil.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about red soil

Dictionary Entries near red soil

red spider crab

Statistics for red soil

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for red soil

The first known use of red soil was in 1817

See more words from the same year

WORD OF THE DAY

mawkish

exaggeratedly or childishly emotional

Test Your Vocabulary

Words from Greek and Roman Mythology Quiz

Boreal comes from the name of the ancient Greek god of which wind?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ

SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games