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
Sacramento Bee Staff, Sacbee.com, 8 Jan. 2026
This stretch of the Great Hungarian Plain was once the nation’s breadbasket, a lush expanse of silt and soil regularly replenished by the flooding of the Danube and Tisza rivers.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Dec. 2025
Walker Mimms, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2023
Cathedral-like sandstone canyons were resurrected, and sunlight reached the silt-clogged floors for the first time in generations.
—Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 22 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for silt
Noun
These rivers shaped the story of California — a sense of place — from the native peoples shaped by these rivers to the men who extracted riches from the silt.
—Sacramento Bee Staff, Sacbee.com, 8 Jan. 2026
This stretch of the Great Hungarian Plain was once the nation’s breadbasket, a lush expanse of silt and soil regularly replenished by the flooding of the Danube and Tisza rivers.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 30 Dec. 2025
Verb
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
Cathedral-like sandstone canyons were resurrected, and sunlight reached the silt-clogged floors for the first time in generations.
—Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 22 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for silt
Recent Examples of Synonyms for silt
Noun
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Pictures from the site show aerials of the field — as well as a cross-section of sediment layers exposed during archaeological work.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
13 Feb. 2026
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Then, vacuum or wipe away any loose crumbs, grease, or other sediment or food bits stuck in the oven before starting the cycle.—
Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner,
Martha Stewart,
7 Feb. 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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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
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At some point, alluvium buried the entire tusk, possibly from major storm flooding.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
14 Aug. 2024
Verb
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The study also noted that many of these companies guaranteed some news outlets would cover the press releases, and were essentially flooding the space with garbage crypto information dressed up to look like reliable news.—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
16 Feb. 2026
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More than 4,000 tips flooded law enforcement agencies in the 24 hours after the images were broadcast.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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When blown by the wind, these sediments are referred to as loess.—
Joseph V Micallef,
Forbes,
2 Sep. 2021
Verb
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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
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Waymo's vehicles contributed to gridlock during storms and widespread power outages in San Francisco last month.—
Lora Kolodny,
CNBC,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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This helped swamp the remaining opposition parties in the capital.—
Michael Paarlberg,
The Conversation,
12 Feb. 2026
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Ever since Cile was swept away by the floodwaters that swamped Camp Mystic in the Texas Hill Country last summer, her mother has been coping with her grief by writing her daughter a letter every day.—
Corky Siemaszko,
NBC news,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Look into so many today and they’re littered with detritus and treated as a dumping ground for whatever’s closest to hand.—
Mark Ellwood,
Robb Report,
3 Feb. 2026
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Automotive detritus Does your car need to be cleaned out?—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
17 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Silt.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/silt. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.
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