I. ˈsȯil, esp before pause or consonant -ȯiəl verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English soilen, from Old French soiller, souiller to wallow, soil, from soil pigsty, boar's wallow, probably from Latin suile pigsty, from sus pig — more at sow
transitive verb
1. : to stain or defile morally : corrupt , pollute
why soil their ears with nasty knowledge — C.W.Cunnington
soil one's mind with such paltry thoughts — Van Wyck Brooks
2. : to make unclean especially superficially : dirty 1, smudge , spot
soil a rug
a paste that soils the hands
his shoes … were soiled now from the clay of the airfield — Kay Boyle
the majestic river … soiled with garbage — Herbert Agar
3. : to blacken or besmirch (as a person's reputation or honor) by word or deed : give a bad name to : sully , disgrace
what hath she done, prince, that can soil our mothers — Shakespeare
4. chiefly Britain : to paint (as a pipe) with plumber's soil
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to wallow in mud — used especially of a deer or wild boar
b. : to take refuge in water or in a marsh — used of hunted game
2.
a. : to become soiled or dirty
this fabric soils easily
b. : to defecate involuntarily
patients also showed infantile reactions … continually wetting and soiling — Digest of Neurology & Psychiatry
II. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : the action of soiling or the condition of being soiled : soilage 1, stain , spot
protect a dress from soil
hands free from soil
finger marks or any other kind of soil — New Yorker
b. : moral defilement : corruption
disburdening herself of the soil of worldly frailties — Nathaniel Hawthorne
2. : something that soils or pollutes: as
a. : foreign matter : refuse
metal surfaces … filled with all types of soil — R.E.Marce
b. : sewage
conduits to carry away the soil
c. : dung , excrement
3. : plumber's soil
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin solium seat (influenced in meaning by Latin solum base, floor, ground, soil); probably akin to Latin sedēre to sit — more at sit
1. : firm land : earth , ground
underfoot the divine soil , overhead the sun — Walt Whitman
she was as brown as the very soil itself — Pearl Buck
2.
a. : the upper layer of earth that may be dug or plowed ; specifically : the loose surface material of the earth in which plants grow usually consisting of disintegrated rock with an admixture of organic matter and soluble salts — see humus , nitrification
b. : the surface earth of a particular place with reference especially to its composition or its adaptability (as for the farmer, builder, or engineer)
sandy soil
fertile soil
a rich soil
a soil deficient in alkali
3. : country , land
seek your hero in a distant soil — Thomas Gray
left his native soil never to return
4.
a. : cultivated or tilled ground
works on the soil
b. : the agricultural life or calling
a son of the soil
felt a closeness to the soil
5. : a medium in which something takes hold and develops
countries where such misery exists are fertile soil for Communist infiltration — New York Times Magazine
psychiatry flourished in the soil of curiosity — R.S.Ellery
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English soyle boar's wallow, small pond, from Middle French soil, souille boar's wallow — more at soil I
: a tract of water (as a marsh or pool) in which hunted animals take refuge from their pursuers : refuge , sanctuary — used chiefly in the phrases run to soil, go to soil, take soil
V. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. : to feed (livestock) in the barn or an enclosure with fresh grass or green food : fatten
2. : to purge (livestock) by feeding on green food
VI. noun
( -s )
: soilage