outwash

[out-wosh, -wawsh]

noun Geology.

the material, chiefly sand or gravel, deposited by meltwater streams in front of a glacier.

Origin of outwash

First recorded in 1890–95; out- + wash

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for outwash

Historical Examples of outwash

This outwash plain was a veritable paradise of bloom in the days before the advent of the plow.
Baraboo, Dells, and Devil's Lake Region
H. E. Cole
Thus arose the type of stratified drift variously known as overwash plains, outwash plains, morainic plains, and morainic aprons.
The Geography of the Region about Devils Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin
Rollin D. Salisbury
Good examples of overwash or outwash plains may be seen at various points in the vicinity of Baraboo.
The Geography of the Region about Devils Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin
Rollin D. Salisbury
A good example of an outwash plain occurs southwest of Baraboo, flanking the moraine on the west (Fig. 41).
The Geography of the Region about Devils Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin
Rollin D. Salisbury
From this point north to the Baraboo river the moraine scarcely rises above the edge of the outwash beyond.
The Geography of the Region about Devils Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin
Rollin D. Salisbury

British Dictionary definitions for outwash

outwash

noun

a mass of gravel, sand, etc, carried and deposited by the water derived from melting glaciers

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