sediment 1 of 2

as in to settle
to cause to come to rest at the bottom (as of a liquid) the water flowing into the reservoir is sedimenting silt faster than was originally expected

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

sediment

2 of 2

noun

as in silt
matter that settles to the bottom of a body of liquid the sediment at the bottom of the river needs to be routinely dredged so that it doesn't interfere with barge traffic

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sediment
Verb
The exploration data collected to-date indicates that previous historical open pit heap leaching operations did not advance their plans to develop attractive, wide, shallow gold-silver mineralization hosted in major structural zones in the Bisbee Group sediments west of the Contention Pit. Kansas City Star, 10 Apr. 2024 The team observed the octopuses launch objects and sediment several body lengths away. Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Sep. 2021
Noun
The team used tiny dental tools to remove each layer of sediment and dust and ended up finding thousands of small, sharp blades and the larger pieces of rock from which these blades were chipped. Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 9 Apr. 2025 Curiosity has traveled over 21 miles from its landing site since 2012, and has obtained multiple drill site samples from layers of Martian sediment beneath it. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 17 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for sediment
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sediment
Verb
  • Listen to this article 4 min Christina Haack has settled her divorce from her third husband, Josh Hall.
    Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 4 May 2025
  • This Summer By Daisy Jones Shopping The Best Nontoxic Sunscreens, According to Dermatologists By Jenny Berg Born in Kampala and raised for a time in Cape Town, Mamdani later settled with Nair and his father, academic and writer Mahmood Mamdani, in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of New York.
    Emma Specter, Vogue, 4 May 2025
Noun
  • As part of the restoration process, research divers armed with metal detectors recently hit the water to see what was buried below the silt and sediment.
    Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 18 Mar. 2025
  • Best says the murky water can be full of tannins and algae and, once he’s started reaching for balls on the bottom, the disturbed silt reduces visibility dramatically.
    Don Riddell, CNN, 10 Mar. 2025
Verb
  • When news about Alhurra filtered out — along with talk that even MBN might shut down — many observers saw it as an own goal, a misguided rollback of U.S. soft power in the Middle East.
    Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 3 May 2025
  • That was before Quinn Hughes’ future, clouded by his status as an extension-eligible player in the summer of 2026, became the lens through which every piece of Canucks news was filtered.
    Thomas Drance, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The finale features Dan's passionate support of his dead wife during a deposition for a lawsuit against the opioid company.
    Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025
  • An attorney for the governor, Scott Eckersley, later said in a deposition that Martin tried to block the release of government emails and told employees to delete their messages.
    Jeremy Kohler, ProPublica, 24 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The technologies involved to mine and refine them are mature and both the US and Canada have large natural deposits of some of them.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 24 Apr. 2025
  • Investors appeared to focus on record quarterly loan production of $1.4 billion and deposit growth of $635.5 million.
    Brandon Kochkodin, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Once completed, the smelter will produce 90,000 tonnes of mixed hydroxide precipitate, a crucial material for making EV batteries.
    Yessar Rosendar, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
  • Says the report: The calomel is captured as a precipitate and transferred to a mercury recycler who presumably converts it to elemental mercury and sells it into commerce. . . .
    Sallie Tisdale, Harper's Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Sediment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sediment. Accessed 9 May. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on sediment

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!