Meaning of “soil” in the English Dictionary

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"soil" in English

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soilnoun

uk ​ /sɔɪl/ us ​ /sɔɪl/

B2 [ C or U ] the material on the surface of the ground in which plants grow:

light/heavy/fertile soil
sandy or chalky soils

› [ U ] literary a country:

It was the first time we had set foot on foreign/French/American soil (= gone to a foreign country/France/America).
the soil literary

› the activity of farming:

Gardening is a way for city dwellers to return to the soil.

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soilverb [ T ]

uk ​ /sɔɪl/ us ​ /sɔɪl/ formal

Idiom(s)

not soil your hands

(Definition of “soil” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

"soil" in American English

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soilnoun [ C/U ]

us ​ /sɔɪl/

soil noun [ C/U ] (EARTH)

› the material on the surface of the ground in which plants grow; earth:

[ U ] Plant the seeds in potting soil.

› Soil is sometimes a country:

[ U ] At the Olympics he was competing on foreign soil for only the third time in his life.

soilverb [ T ]

us ​ /sɔɪl/

soil verb [ T ] (MAKE DIRTY)

› to make something dirty

soiled
adjective us ​ /sɔɪld/

›

soiled diapers

(Definition of “soil” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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