Definition of sluice
1a : an artificial passage for water (as in a millstream) fitted with a valve or gate for stopping or regulating flowb : a body of water pent up behind a floodgate
2 : a dock gate : floodgate
3a : a stream flowing through a floodgateb : 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
People Are Reading
Recent Examples of sluice from the Web
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Our son delighted in sifting through mining rough in the water sluice to discover fool's gold, rose quartz, malachite and lapis lazuli.
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Using funds from a bond sale and state and federal grants, the city has been refurbishing sluice gates in a canal that were built to control floodwaters but haven’t worked in more than half a century.
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His tiebreaking hit was the speck of gold in so many dull sluice pans.
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On a recent morning, not a drop came out of the dam’s sluices.
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.
Origin and Etymology of sluice
Middle English sluse, alteration of scluse, from Anglo-French escluse, from Late Latin exclusa, from Latin, feminine of exclusus, past participle of excludere to exclude
Other Civil Engineering Terms
sluice
Definition of sluice
sluiced
;sluicing
transitive verb
1 : to draw off by or through a sluice
2a : to wash with or in water running through or from a sluiceb : to drench with a sudden flow : flush
3 : to transport (logs) in a sluice
intransitive verb
: to pour as if from a sluice
Examples of sluice in a Sentence
he sluiced the gutters with lots of water in order to make sure they were clear
Recent Examples of sluice from the Web
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The crew of the Fitzgerald seemed to figure out the source of the flooding, isolating the affected chambers while setting up pumps to sluice the water overboard, Lopez said.
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The old world was dissolving, all the grime of the past sluicing away in digital rain.
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.
First Known Use of sluice
1596
SLUICE Defined for English Language Learners
sluice
playDefinition of sluice for English Language Learners
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: an artificial passage for water to flow through with a gate for controlling the flow
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: a device (such as a floodgate) used for controlling the flow of water
sluice
Definition of sluice for English Language Learners
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: to wash or spray (something or someone) with a stream of water
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: to flow or pour down heavily
SLUICE Defined for Kids
Definition of sluice for Students
1 : a man-made channel for water with a gate for controlling its flow or changing its direction
2 : a device for controlling the flow of water
3 : a sloping trough for washing ore or for floating logs
Learn More about sluice
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See words that rhyme with sluice Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for sluice Spanish Central: Translation of sluice Nglish: Translation of sluice for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about sluice
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