loam

English

Wikipedia

Three layers of subsurface loam; surface layer is dark brown fine sandy loam, subsurface layer is pale brown fine sandy loam, subsoil is red clay loam and sandy clay loam.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ləʊm/
• Rhymes: -əʊm
• (US) IPA: /loʊm/

Etymology

From Old English lām.

Noun

loam (uncountable)

1. A kind of soil; an earthy mixture of clay and sand, with organic matter to which its fertility is chiefly due.
   • 1602 : William Shakespeare, Hamlet , act V scene 1

     Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander

     returneth to dust, the dust is earth, of earth we make

     loam, and of why that loam whereto he was converted

     might they not stop a beer-barrel?

2. (metalworking) A mixture of sand, clay, and other materials, used in making moulds for large castings, often without a pattern.

Translations

an earthy mixture of clay and sand

• Danish: ler (da) n
• Dutch: leem (nl) m
• Finnish: savimaa (fi), hiue (fi)
• French: terreau (fr)
• German: Lehm (de) m

• Hungarian: vályog (hu)
• Old Norse: leir n
• Russian: суглинок (ru) (suglínok) m
• Spanish: marga (es) f
• Swedish: mylla (sv), lerjord (sv)

Verb

loam (third-person singular simple present loams, present participle loaming, simple past and past participle loamed)

1. To cover, smear, or fill with loam.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Anagrams

• LMAO, mola