Definition of soil

• v. t. - To feed, as cattle or horses, in the barn or an inclosure, with fresh grass or green food cut for them, instead of sending them out to pasture; hence (such food having the effect of purging them), to purge by feeding on green food; as, to soil a horse.
• n. - The upper stratum of the earth; the mold, or that compound substance which furnishes nutriment to plants, or which is particularly adapted to support and nourish them.
• n. - Land; country.
• n. - Dung; faeces; compost; manure; as, night soil.
• v. t. - To enrich with soil or muck; to manure.
• n. - A marshy or miry place to which a hunted boar resorts for refuge; hence, a wet place, stream, or tract of water, sought for by other game, as deer.
• n. - To make dirty or unclean on the surface; to foul; to dirty; to defile; as, to soil a garment with dust.
• n. - To stain or mar, as with infamy or disgrace; to tarnish; to sully.
• v. i. - To become soiled; as, light colors soil sooner than dark ones.
• n. - That which soils or pollutes; a soiled place; spot; stain.