sediment
Americannoun
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the matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid; lees; dregs.
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Geology. mineral or organic matter deposited by water, air, or ice.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid
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material that has been deposited from water, ice, or wind
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Geology Solid fragmented material, such as silt, sand, gravel, chemical precipitates, and fossil fragments, that is transported and deposited by water, ice, or wind or that accumulates through chemical precipitation or secretion by organisms, and that forms layers on the Earth's surface. Sedimentary rocks consist of consolidated sediment.
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Particles of solid matter that settle out of a suspension to the bottom of the liquid.
Other Word Forms
- sedimentous adjective
- self-sedimented adjective
Etymology
Origin of sediment
1540–50; < Latin sedimentum, equivalent to sedi- (combining form of sedēre to sit 1, settle) + -mentum -ment
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Roughly 90% of the dissolved iron coming out of the ice shelf cavity comes from deep waters and sediments outside the cavity, not from meltwater," Chinni said.
From Science Daily
These chemical fossils are traces of biological molecules once produced by living organisms that were later buried, altered, and locked into sediment for hundreds of millions of years.
From Science Daily
Other samples were combined with water and materials commonly found in Martian sediment, including silicate based rocks and clay.
From Science Daily
Nearby were partial skeletons of long necked dinosaurs preserved in river sediments, pointing to a forested inland environment crisscrossed by waterways.
From Science Daily
The work began with Appler's Ph.D. research at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute in 2019, when she extracted DNA from marine sediments.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
