sluice

noun

\ ˈslüs

Definition of sluice

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : an artificial passage for water (as in a millstream) fitted with a valve or gate for stopping or regulating flow

b : a body of water pent up behind a floodgate

2 : a dock gate : floodgate

3a : a stream flowing through a floodgate

b : a channel to drain or carry off surplus water

4 : a long inclined trough usually on the ground especially : such a contrivance paved usually with riffles to hold quicksilver for catching gold

sluice

verb

sluiced; sluicing

Definition of sluice (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to draw off by or through a sluice

2a : to wash with or in water running through or from a sluice

b : to drench with a sudden flow : flush

3 : to transport (logs) in a sluice

intransitive verb

: to pour as if from a sluice

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about sluice

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Synonyms for sluice

Synonyms: Verb

flush, irrigate, rinse, wash, wash out

Examples of sluice in a Sentence

Verb

he sluiced the gutters with lots of water in order to make sure they were clear

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Among the problems with these motivational mantras is this one: Most of us who lack these skills cannot utter such affirmations or simply decide to become more upbeat and positive after years of digging negative sluices in our neural pathways. — Andrew Reiner, Washington Post, "Life’s stresses often sink me. Here’s how I decided to change that.," 4 Feb. 2018 Over time, a growing share of Dutch citizens worked in commercial interests and industries in port cities protected by an extensive network of dikes and sluices. — Dagomar Degroot, Washington Post, "Some places flourished in the Little Ice Age. There are lessons for us now.," 19 Feb. 2018 Water that sluices through the dike during the wet season may be enough to bring some fish farms back to what was once the main part of the lake, but that's—quite literally—just a drop in the bucket. — Ken Jennings, Condé Nast Traveler, "The Aral Sea Is Refilling for the First Time in Decades," 25 June 2018 Buy a bag of mixed rough stones at the Gift Shop and head for the sluice. — Courant Community, "Community News For The Wethersfield Edition," 10 Apr. 2018 Buy a bag of mixed rough stones at the Gift Shop and head for the sluice. — Courant Community, "Community News For The Wethersfield Edition," 10 Apr. 2018 Buy a bag of mixed rough stones at the Gift Shop and head for the sluice. — Courant Community, "Community News For The Wethersfield Edition," 10 Apr. 2018 Buy a bag of mixed rough stones at the Gift Shop and head for the sluice. — Courant Community, "Community News For The Wethersfield Edition," 10 Apr. 2018 Buy a bag of mixed rough stones at the Gift Shop and head for the sluice. — Courant Community, "Community News For The Wethersfield Edition," 10 Apr. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The goal Monday is to determine if J50 is in shape for an emergency provision of live fish, sluiced off the back of a boat, said Michael Milstein, Spokesman for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries. — Lynda V. Mapes, The Seattle Times, "Rescue effort for sick orca underway, but family’s location remains unknown," 6 Aug. 2018 One option, which has not yet been attempted, is to sluice live king salmon to her from the back of a boat as a way to get medicine into her, as well as critical hydration. — Lynda V. Mapes, The Seattle Times, "Concerns grow for young orca’s life as it struggles to swim with family in Salish Sea," 3 Sep. 2018 Main Street, also known as Frederick Road, was transformed into a waterway over the weekend, as brown water sluiced through town, destroying shops and upending cars. — Eliott C. Mclaughlin, CNN, "'It's even worse': Ellicott City, still recovering from 2016 flood, hammered again," 28 May 2018 This past year, wildfires and mudslides have ravaged California, and hurricanes have sluiced through Houston and Puerto Rico. — Rachel Riederer, The New Republic, "Can Rivers Be People Too?," 9 May 2018 The National Guard was activated and mandatory evacuations were under way Thursday on the Big Island of Hawaii as lava sluiced toward a community and menaced residents, authorities said. — Alex Johnson /, NBC News, "Volcanic eruption sparks mandatory evacuations on Hawaii's Big Island," 4 May 2018 For decades coal fired power plants disposed of this material by sluicing the ash and the residue collected in pollution control devices into unlined ash ponds on the banks of rivers. — Dennis Pillion, AL.com, "Alabama Power fined $1.25 million over coal ash ponds," 2 Mar. 2018 For decades, many of the waste products from burning coal for electricity were sluiced into wet ponds on-site at the power plants, with solid particles settling out into the ponds, but water from the ponds overflowing into the rivers. — Dennis Pillion, AL.com, "Alabama AG: Coal ash cleanup order violates states' rights," 7 Feb. 2018 Then there's the money sluicing in -- projected in short order to be $50 billion per annum. — Special To The Oregonian, OregonLive.com, "'Grass Roots' chronicles marijuana laws' disjointed history in the U.S.," 12 Dec. 2017

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