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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.

Night soil is collected by a clanking tractor and trailer.

From Time Magazine Archive

Night soil has been used as a manure, for ages, in China, which is, undoubtedly, one great secret of their success in supporting a dense population, for so long a time, without impoverishing the soil.

From The Elements of Agriculture A Book for Young Farmers, with Questions Prepared for the Use of Schools by Waring, George E. (George Edwin)

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.