sluice

[ sloos ]
See synonyms for: sluicesluicedsluicing on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. an artificial channel for conducting water, often fitted with a gate (sluice gate ) at the upper end for regulating the flow.

  2. the body of water held back or controlled by a sluice gate.

  1. any contrivance for regulating a flow from or into a receptacle.

  2. a channel, especially one carrying off surplus water; drain.

  3. a stream of surplus water.

  4. an artificial stream or channel of water for moving solid matter: a lumbering sluice.

  5. Also called sluice box .Mining. a long, sloping trough or the like, with grooves on the bottom, into which water is directed to separate gold from gravel or sand.

verb (used with object),sluiced, sluic·ing.
  1. to let out (water) by or as if by opening a sluice.

  2. to drain (a pond, lake, etc.) by or as if by opening a sluice.

  1. to open a sluice upon.

  2. to flush or cleanse with a rush of water: to sluice the decks of a boat.

  3. Mining. to wash in a sluice.

  4. to send (logs) down a sluiceway.

verb (used without object),sluiced, sluic·ing.
  1. to flow or pour through or as if through a sluice.

Origin of sluice

1
1300–50; Middle English scluse (noun) <Old French escluse<Late Latin exclūsa, a water barrier, noun use of feminine of Latin exclūsus, past participle of exclūdere to exclude

Other words from sluice

  • sluicelike, adjective
  • un·der·sluice, noun
  • un·sluiced, adjective

Words Nearby sluice

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sluice in a sentence

  • He finished his strictly utilitarian household labor and went off up the flat to the sluice boxes.

    Cabin Fever | B. M. Bower
  • In a few minutes Uncle Will released him and sent him back to help Lucky at the sluice.

  • Once I saw a catfish, gasping for air at the surface of water that had been muddied by the opening of a sluice-way in a dam.

    Bill's School and Mine | William Suddards Franklin

British Dictionary definitions for sluice

sluice

/ (sluːs) /


noun
  1. Also called: sluiceway a channel that carries a rapid current of water, esp one that has a sluicegate to control the flow

  2. the body of water controlled by a sluicegate

  1. mining an inclined trough for washing ore, esp one having riffles on the bottom to trap particles

  2. an artificial channel through which logs can be floated

  3. informal a brief wash in running water

verb
  1. (tr) to draw out or drain (water, etc) from (a pond, etc) by means of a sluice

  2. (tr) to wash or irrigate with a stream of water

  1. (tr) mining to wash in a sluice

  2. (tr) to send (logs, etc) down a sluice

  3. (intr; often foll by away or out) (of water, etc) to run or flow from or as if from a sluice

  4. (tr) to provide with a sluice

Origin of sluice

1
C14: from Old French escluse, from Late Latin exclūsa aqua water shut out, from Latin exclūdere to shut out, exclude

Derived forms of sluice

  • sluicelike, adjective

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