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View synonyms for sump

sump

[ suhmp ]

noun

  1. a pit, well, or the like in which water or other liquid is collected.
  2. Machinery. a chamber at the bottom of a machine, pump, circulation system, etc., into which a fluid drains before recirculation or in which wastes gather before disposal.
  3. Mining.
    1. a space where water is allowed to collect at the bottom of a shaft or below a passageway.
    2. a pilot shaft or tunnel pushed out in front of a main bore.
  4. British. crankcase.
  5. British Dialect. a swamp, bog, or muddy pool.


sump

/ sʌmp /

noun

  1. a receptacle, such as the lower part of the crankcase of an internal-combustion engine, into which liquids, esp lubricants, can drain to form a reservoir
  2. another name for cesspool
  3. mining
    1. a depression at the bottom of a shaft where water collects before it is pumped away
    2. the front portion of a shaft or tunnel, ahead of the main bore
  4. dialect.
    a muddy pool or swamp
“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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of sump1

1375–1425; late Middle English sompe < Middle Low German or Middle Dutch sump; cognate with German Sumpf; akin to swamp
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sump1

C17: from Middle Dutch somp marsh; see swamp
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Example Sentences

Low-lying places are more prone to this cooling, especially in sheltered valleys where winds can’t cause a stir, so they become a sump of cold air.

Army “hot waste” dumping records indicate it left radioactive cooling water buried in a sump in the Greenland ice sheet.

Others show holes in netting around sump ponds meant to keep out wildlife and birds attracted by the shiny, sticky pools.

Those vapors condense into a liquid later in the process and that “condensate” is collected in a storage area, called a sump.

Then they install sump pumps to remove remnant toxic waters.

Ef I aint done come traipsin' off en lef' my ole man money-pus, en he got sump'n' in dar w'at he won't take a purty fer, needer!

He put his leg up on a bench and an old gentleman seen sump'n stickin' out.

The average elevation that the water has to be raised is 65 feet, measuring from center of sump to point of delivery.

That was sumpty-sump years ago,” said Artie Van Arlen, “you have him in the third grade.

He had rather a fine horse, and in passing a sump-hole, his sled had skidded and slipped downhill into the water.

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