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View synonyms for

sludge

[sluhj]

noun

  1. mud, mire, or ooze; slush.

  2. a deposit of ooze at the bottom of a body of water.

  3. any of various more or less mudlike deposits or mixtures.

  4. the sediment in a steam boiler or water tank.

  5. broken ice, as on the sea.

  6. a mixture of some finely powdered substance and water.

  7. sediment deposited during the treatment of sewage.

  8. Also called activated sludge.Bacteriology.sewage sediment that contains a heavy growth of microorganisms, resulting from vigorous aeration.

  9. a fine, mudlike powder produced by a mining drill.



sludge

/ ʌ /

noun

  1. soft mud, snow, etc

  2. any deposit or sediment

  3. a surface layer of ice that has a slushy appearance

  4. (in sewage disposal) the solid constituents of sewage that precipitate during treatment and are removed for subsequent purification

“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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Other Word Forms

  • de-sludge verb (used with object)
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sludge1

First recorded in 1640–50; variant of dialectal slutch, slitch, Middle English slich “slime, wet mud” (compare its derivative slucched “muddy”); apparently of expressive origin
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Word History and Origins

Origin of sludge1

C17: probably related to slush
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Successive governments have failed to deal with the threat posed by spreading sewage sludge containing toxic chemicals on farmers' fields, a former chair of the Environment Agency has told the BBC.

From

The trick is knowing the sauce’s nature: it's velvet, not sludge.

From

When he and his son walked upstream, they found "black sludge" emerging from an outlet pipe below the airport's holding ponds.

From

The Boring Company initially planned to dump wastewater in the nearby Colorado River but, after local pressure, signed a deal to send the sludge to a Bastrop wastewater treatment plant.

From

And data analysed by the BBC and shared with the UK's Department for Transport casts further doubt on one of the key ingredients in HVO, a material called palm sludge waste.

From

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