as in sediment
soil made chiefly of loose sedimentary material that is carried by flowing water and that sinks to the bottom of a river, pond, etc.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of silt
Samantha Agate, Kansas City Star, 5 Apr. 2026
Michael McEwan and wife Heather Nakahara returned to their home in Waialua on Oahu’s North Shore over the weekend to find their kitchen counters covered in red silt.
—Audrey McAvoy, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026
Literary Hub, 22 May 2025
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
Divers operate in near-darkness amid silt and scattered cannonballs, progressing meter by meter to carefully retrieve what remains of the ship and its contents.
—Samantha Agate, Kansas City Star, 5 Apr. 2026
Michael McEwan and wife Heather Nakahara returned to their home in Waialua on Oahu’s North Shore over the weekend to find their kitchen counters covered in red silt.
—Audrey McAvoy, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026
Verb
Its primary purpose is not to control people or accumulate power, except perhaps incrementally, in the form of a kind of silting up of canonical importance.
—Literary Hub, 22 May 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for silt
Noun
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King tides — the year’s highest tides, which climate change is making more frequent and severe — stir up sediment and reduce the light that reaches the seafloor.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
10 Apr. 2026
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Over time, calcium, lime, sediment, and even biofilm can accumulate in the aerator—especially in homes with hard water—making routine cleaning essential for performance and to keep your water clean and clear.—
Caroline Lubinsky,
Martha Stewart,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Purple blossoms furred the redbuds along his driveway; here and there beneath them were sprays of yellow forsythia.—
Jamie Quatro,
Harper's Magazine,
2 Aug. 2024
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The foils can also retract, meaning that the boats aren't at risk of marine growth, which could otherwise fur them up.—
Julia Buckley,
CNN,
28 July 2022
Noun
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What used to be open water was heading towards alluvium, and oblivion.—
Rob Crossan,
Condé Nast Traveler,
24 Mar. 2026
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The tunnel will traverse multiple difficult subsoil layers: a surface of historical and active landfill materials, including spoil from London tunneling projects and decades-old power station fly ash, a thick layer of alluvium composed of silts, clays, and peat, and, finally, highly variable chalk.—
Theo Burman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 July 2025
Verb
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But bad actors have learned to weaponize that same amendment as a shield, flooding the information ecosystem with content designed to discreetly destabilize our communities.—
Julian Baron,
Baltimore Sun,
19 Apr. 2026
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Last year, many of her chile plants were swallowed whole when a reservoir nearby (which the farmers use to harvest rainwater) flooded its banks during the monsoons.—
Kamala Thiagarajan,
NPR,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Officials said the feature continued downward into the loess beneath the prehistoric site.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
9 Feb. 2026
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Many fatalities were linked to the collapse of yaodongs—homes carved into loess hillsides.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Democrats largely oppose Trump’s efforts to seize more control over elections, and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Trump’s demands would gridlock the chamber.—
Lisa Mascaro,
Twin Cities,
10 Mar. 2026
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Such a shift would likely gridlock Washington, effectively ending the prospects for further fiscal stimulus before the 2028 presidential election.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Word must have gotten out about the burger joint’s first appearance at Coachella, as it was swamped with lines all weekend.—
Senior Food Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Apr. 2026
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Ten years ago, the infamous Tax Day storm swamped the Houston area with off-the-charts rainfall.—
Dominic Boyer,
The Conversation,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Across the jagged volcanic landscape of spontaneous eruptions and tumbling detritus, a space of relative calm will invariably open up.—
Philip Sherburne,
Pitchfork,
13 Apr. 2026
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Along with other conflicts, terrorist attacks, and the detritus of previous wars, bomb detection and disposal units are gaining far too much experience in dealing with such threats to life and limb as well as learning from the painful examples of others.—
David Szondy
April 11,
New Atlas,
11 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Silt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/silt. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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