Definition of "soil" []

• The top layer of the earth's surface, consisting of rock and mineral particles mixed with organic matter. (noun)
• A particular kind of earth or ground: sandy soil. (noun)
• Country; land: native soil. (noun)
• The agricultural life: a man of the soil. (noun)
• A place or condition favorable to growth; a breeding ground. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It was quite clear that the plants as they died would _decay in very wet soil_, and so the conditions are very different from those we have just been studying where the plants _decay in soil that is only moist_."
• "When the disintegrated rock consists of quite large particles, the soil is called a _gravel soil_."
• "When soil is formed largely of clay we speak of it as a _heavy soil_."