drilling mud

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noun

a water-based or oil-based suspension of clays pumped into an oil well during drilling in order to seal off porous rock layers, equalize the pressure, cool the bit, and flush out the cuttings.

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Also called drilling fluid.

Words nearby drilling mud

drill bit, drill chuck, drill corps, drill down, drilling, drilling mud, drilling platform, drilling rig, drillmaster, drill pipe, drill press

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use drilling mud in a sentence

He scrambled outside to find a 25-foot-wide crater just beyond the mud wall surrounding his family compound.
The Dangerous Drug-Funded Secret War Between Iran and Pakistan|Umar Farooq|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Kocurek now works 12-hour shifts as a night watchman guarding the entrance to a drilling patch.
Two Texas Regulators Tried to Enforce the Rules. They Were Fired.|David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Shoddy well construction is considered a primary cause of groundwater contamination at drilling sites.
Two Texas Regulators Tried to Enforce the Rules. They Were Fired.|David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She skewers the Nature Conservancy for sponsoring oil drilling on their property for profit.
Naomi Klein’s ‘This Changes Everything’ Will Change Nothing|Michael Signer|November 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST

They described him as clad in black, his face smeared with mud.
Killer Eric Frein Held in Murdered Cop’s Cuffs|Michael Daly|October 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Aunt Ri, at her best estate, had never possessed a room which had the expression of this poor little mud hut of Ramona's.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
In some parts of Korea the houses were built of stout timbers, the chinks covered with woven cane and plastered with mud.
Our Little Korean Cousin|H. Lee M. Pike
The sun was palely shining upon dry, clean pavements and upon roads juicy with black mud.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
Frank leaped ashore and pushed the boat off, while Mayne held her by jamming the leeward oar into the mud.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
A cannon-ball crashed through the mud wall and bounded across the enclosure.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy

British Dictionary definitions for drilling mud

drilling mud

noun

a mixture of clays, water, and chemicals pumped down the drill string while an oil well is being drilled to lubricate the mechanism, carry away rock cuttings, and maintain pressure so that oil or gas does not escape

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012