silt
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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silts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
silted,
past participle, past
-
silting
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
silts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
silted,
past participle, past
-
silting
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
siltsimple
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siltssimple
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have siltedperfect
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has siltedperfect
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am siltingprogressive
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are siltingprogressive
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is siltingprogressive
-
have been siltingperfect progressive
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has been siltingperfect progressive
Past
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siltedsimple
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had siltedperfect
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was siltingprogressive
-
were siltingprogressive
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had been siltingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of silt
1400–50; late Middle English cylte gravel, perhaps originally salty deposit; compare Old English unsylt unsalted, unseasoned, sylting seasoning, syltan to salt, season, Norwegian sylt salty swamp, German Sülze salt marsh, brine
Explanation
Silt is the fine bits of clay and sand that become sediment settling at the bottom of a river or lake. If there's a lot of silt flowing in a river, it looks murky. Silt is the super-fine dirt that you might see at the bottom of a lake or river. When your feet touch silt it feels slimy, and once it’s stirred it up the water looks muddy. Where the Mississippi River enters the Gulf of Mexico, a lot of silt has been deposited and over time has built up a portion of land called the Mississippi Delta. The region surrounding this accumulation of silt is home to music called the Delta Blues.
Vocabulary lists containing silt
Physical Geography - Introductory
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Ancient Egypt - Introductory
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Can You Dig It? Words for Dirt and Soil
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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.
See Examples For:
In the recent floods, Sahariah says, continuous heavy rainfall in Upper Assam and neighbouring Nagaland's Mon district triggered severe flooding and large-scale silt deposition in Sivasagar, Charaideo and Jorhat.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The Hansen Dam Aquatic Center pool was constructed in 1999 in a $15-million project to replace a previous pool in the area that was filled with silt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
In a practice that ought to inspire progressives, those farmers deepened the delta channels and spread over their surrounding farmland the rich silt they excavated or used it to reinforce the levees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The bee began digging into the fine clay-rich silt that had built up in the darker parts of the cave.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026
A riverboat’s paddlewheel churned above me, swirling the silt around.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
Premier Marinas, which owns Brighton Marina, has said dredging, which involves removing natural silts that settle in the marina basin, is needed to ensure safe navigation for boats.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2025
The silts and sand are a "valuable local resource" that contractors and local governments use as fill material in residential and industrial projects, the Army Corps said.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 17, 2019
About 70% of the hull has survived, well-preserved in the Nile silts.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 17, 2019
Lake-clogging soil and silts are being loosed from newly deforested lands far upstream, and scientists also warn that climate change is upsetting Himalayan rainfall patterns.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 11, 2016
But Hess’s readings showed that the ocean floor offered anything but the gooey smoothness of ancient silts.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
The system is also 70% silted or clogged after over a century of use, Mr Bonoan told news outlet ABS-CBN News.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2025
Piers where boats used to berth are now silted up, separated from flowing water by several yards.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 24, 2021
But never have the lakes been silted as they are today,” says Simiyu.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 13, 2020
Over the centuries, it fell into disrepair, becoming silted up from falling leaves and rotting tree roots.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 20, 2020
Despite constant maintenance, erosion silted up reservoirs, hurricanes destroyed terraces, and weeds and sediment choked irrigation networks.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
The silting of the lake and tree growth had threatened the site - but it was restored after £700,000 was raised.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2021
Geographers had already noticed that rivers tend to avulse at the foot of mountains, where slopes change dramatically and sediment settles out, silting up the bed.
From Science Magazine ● May 13, 2021
Thanks to silting and reclamation in the tidal Liffey, Usher’s Island itself has for centuries been joined to the mainland.
From New York Times ● May 11, 2021
But he fears greater consequences if silting continues.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2018
Yes, everything was once water, but the Earth formed out of the oceans by a natural process—similar, he thought, to the silting he had observed at the delta of the Nile.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
