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Synonyms

night soil

American  

noun

  1. human excrement collected and used as fertilizer.

night soil British  

noun

  1. human excrement collected at night from cesspools, privies, etc, and sometimes used as a fertilizer

"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

Etymology

Origin of night soil

First recorded in 1765–75

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.

This strategy became necessary after an errant tomato plant sprouted from a visitor's night soil back in the 1960s.

From Scientific American • Oct. 19, 2023

Everything is recycled, from our chicken bones to our night soil.

From Salon • Jul. 25, 2017

The problems of chamber pots — also known as “jerries, night soil, commodes, slop jars, close stools and thunder mugs” — also contributed to this noisome mix.

From Washington Post • Nov. 4, 2016

In China, the proverb said: “Treasure night soil as if it were gold.”

From The Guardian • Jul. 15, 2014

You return to find your houses combed spotless of spoiled crumbs, your bedding free of lice, your woodlots cleansed of night soil, your hen coops rid of chicken mites.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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.