From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsiltsilt1 /sɪlt/ noun [uncountable] HEGsand, mud, soil etc that is carried in water and then settles at a bend in a river, an entrance to a port etc
Examples from the Corpus
silt• Gravel and silt, washed down the mountainside, are clogging his irrigation ditch.• The crumbled porcelain of a third lay embedded like fossilized prehistoric remains long entombed in silt and mud.• They have little to look forward to, save for fat legs, flopping in the silt of some riverine beach.• The silt is swirling, and no one seems sure which way is which.• The plants provide shelter for animals, trap silt and draw nutrients from the water.• The sewers are so filled with silt and the underground plumbing is so old that heavy rains cause rivers on campus.• Obviously, the same river flow that fills them with silt also brings in minerals and organic materials from elsewhere.siltsilt2 verb → silt up→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
silt• From now until the year 2000, the arts calendar is silting up with festivals, memorials and monumental events.• Increased erosion will accelerate the process of silting up the region's hydro-electric dams.• The rivers are infinitely renewable, at least until the reservoirs silt up or the climate changes.• As the peat shrank, the critical outfall of the river Ouse into the North Sea inevitably began to silt up.Origin silt1 (1400-1500) Probably from a Scandinavian language 