Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

loam

[lohm]
See more synonyms for loam on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a rich, friable soil containing a relatively equal mixture of sand and silt and a somewhat smaller proportion of clay.
  2. a mixture of clay, sand, straw, etc., used in making molds for founding and in plastering walls, stopping holes, etc.
  3. earth or soil.
  4. Obsolete. clay or clayey earth.
Show More
verb (used with object)
  1. to cover or stop with loam.
Show More

Origin of loam

before 900; late Middle English lome, earlier lam(e), Old English lām; cognate with Dutch leem, German Lehm loam, clay; akin to lime1
Related formsloam·i·ness, nounloam·less, adjectiveloam·y, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for loam

estate, soil, terrain, home, earth, continent, ground, plot, district, area, field, homeland, territory, beach, province, parcel, countryside, acreage, tract, nation

Examples from the Web for loam

Historical Examples of loam

  • The loam should be slightly moist, and free from organic matter.

    The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise

    M. E. Hard

  • A stiff, half-clay soil with some loam is best suited to this crop.

    Agriculture for Beginners

    Charles William Burkett

  • Loam: an earthy mixture of clay and sand with organic matter.

    Agriculture for Beginners

    Charles William Burkett

  • Test with clay, gravel, and loam, also with mixtures of these and leaf-mould.

    Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Nature Study

    Ontario Ministry of Education

  • Every plant had all the loam, light, water, air and nourishment it could use.

    2 B R 0 2 B

    Kurt Vonnegut

British Dictionary definitions for loam

loam

noun
  1. rich soil consisting of a mixture of sand, clay, and decaying organic material
  2. a paste of clay and sand used for making moulds in a foundry, plastering walls, etc
Show More
verb
  1. (tr) to cover, treat, or fill with loam
Show More
Derived Formsloamy, adjectiveloaminess, noun

Word Origin for loam

Old English lām; related to Old Swedish lēmo clay, Old High German leimo
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

Word Origin and History for loam

n.

Old English lam "clay, mud, mire, earth," from Proto-Germanic *laimaz (cf. Old Saxon lemo, Dutch leem, German Lehm "loam"), from PIE root *(s)lei- "slimy" (see slime (n.)). As a type of highly fertile clayey soil, it is attested from 1660s. As a verb from c.1600.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
loam in Science

loam

[lōm]
  1. Soil composed of approximately equal quantities of sand, silt, and clay, often with variable amounts of decayed plant matter.
Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.