sluice

[sloos]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sluice ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

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

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

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

a stream of surplus water.

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

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.

to let out (water) by or as if by opening a sluice.

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

to open a sluice upon.

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

Mining. to wash in a sluice.

to send (logs) down a sluiceway.

verb (used without object), sluiced, sluic·ing.

to flow or pour through or as if through a sluice.

Nearby words

Origin of sluice

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

Related formssluice·like, adjectiveun·der·sluice, nounun·sluiced, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for sluice

Make tiny seasoned cheese balls, center on the apple slices standing on lettuce leaves, and sluice with creamy salad dressing.
The Complete Book of Cheese|Robert Carlton Brown
Moreover, I put the spar well away; and then, with a sluice of water, I fetched his Reverence back to himself again.
The Maid of Sker|Richard Doddridge Blackmore
But you did see the sluice gates torn down, and thrown back into the water?
The Landleaguers|Anthony Trollope
If you get your hand under the pin and the sluice happens to sink, you hurt your hand.
The Incredible Honeymoon|E. Nesbit

An axe, a big jack-knife, a hammer and some nails left over from building their sluice boxes, these were the tools.
Cabin Fever|B. M. Bower

British Dictionary definitions for sluice

sluice

noun

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

the body of water controlled by a sluicegate

See sluicegate

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

an artificial channel through which logs can be floated

informal a brief wash in running water

verb

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

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

(tr) mining to wash in a sluice

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

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

(tr) to provide with a sluice

Derived Formssluicelike, adjective

Word Origin for sluice

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

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

Word Origin and History for sluice

sluice

c.1400, earlier scluse (mid-14c.), a shortening of Old French escluse "sluice, floodgate" (Modern French écluse), from Late Latin exclusa "barrier to shut out water" (in aqua exclusa "water shut out," i.e. separated from the river), from fem. singular of Latin exclusus, past participle of excludere "to shut out" (see exclude).

sluice

1590s, from sluice (n.). Related: Sluiced; sluicing.

sluice

noun

verb (used with object), sluiced, sluic·ing.

verb (used without object), sluiced, sluic·ing.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of sluice

Examples from the Web for sluice

sluice

noun

verb

Word Origin for sluice

sluice

sluice