subsoil
[suhb-soil]
- the bed or stratum of earth or earthy material immediately under the surface soil.
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Origin of subsoil
Also called undersoil.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
land, dirt, terrain, shore, surface, coast, mud, clay, dust, turf, gravel, sand, clod, sod, muck, compost, deposit, mold, fill, marlExamples from the Web for subsoil
Historical Examples
It provides that the State is entitled to retain what they call ‘subsoil rights.’
Across the MesaJarvis Hall
I think, however, I will turn over a furrow of subsoil in it.
The Professor at the Breakfast TableOliver Wendell Holmes (Sr.)
The strength of team depends entirely on the character of the subsoil.
Farm drainageHenry Flagg French
The subsoil is a store of inert fertility that should not remain dormant.
They improve the physical condition of the subsoil as well as the top soil.
subsoil
- Also called: undersoilthe layer of soil beneath the surface soil and overlying the bedrock
- (as modifier)a subsoil plough
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- (tr) to plough (land) to a depth below the normal ploughing level and so break up the subsoil
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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 subsoil
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
subsoil
[sŭb′soil′]
- In an ABC soil, the B horizon. The term was formerly used to mean the layer of earth below the humus or surface soil.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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