outwash

[ out-wosh, -wawsh ]

/ ˈaʊtˌwɒʃ, -ˌwɔʃ /

noun Geology.

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

Words nearby outwash

outward, outward bound, outward-bound, outwardly, outwards, outwash, outwash plain, outwatch, outwear, outweigh, outwent

Origin of outwash

First recorded in 1890–95; out- + wash

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for 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
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
Outwash plains are sometimes pitted by bowl-shaped basins where ice blocks were left buried in the sand by the retreating glacier.
The Elements of Geology|William Harmon Norton
In Sauk Prairie, however, its characteristics are those of an outwash plain, rather than those of a valley train.
The Geography of the Region about Devils Lake and the Dalles of the Wisconsin|Rollin D. Salisbury

Outwash plains are the deposits formed by streams which, during the Ice Age, issued from the glaciers.
Grand Teton [Wyoming] National Park|United States Dept. of the Interior

British Dictionary definitions for outwash

outwash

/ (ˈaʊtˌwɒʃ) /

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