SOIL. The superficies of the earth on which buildings are erected, or may be erected. 2. The soil is the principal, and the building, when erected, is the accessory. Vide Dig. 6, 1, 49.

Source: Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
 

Soil \Soil\ (soil), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Soiled (soild); p. pr. & vb. n. Soiling.]

[OF. saoler, saouler, to satiate, F. so[^u]ler, L. satullare, fr. satullus, dim. of satur sated. See Satire.]

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. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

Soil \Soil\, n. [OE. soile, F. sol, fr. L. solum bottom, soil; but the word has probably been influenced in form by soil a miry place. Cf. Saloon, Soil a miry place, Sole of the foot.]

1. 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. [1913 Webster]

2. Land; country. [1913 Webster]

Must I thus leave thee, Paradise? thus leave Thee, native soil? --Milton. [1913 Webster]

3. Dung; faeces; compost; manure; as, night soil. [1913 Webster]

Improve land by dung and other sort of soils. --Mortimer. [1913 Webster]

Soil pipe, a pipe or drain for carrying off night soil. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

Soil \Soil\, v. t.[OE. soilen, OF. soillier, F. souiller, (assumed) LL. suculare, fr. L. sucula a little pig, dim. of sus a swine. See Sow, n.]

1. To make dirty or unclean on the surface; to foul; to dirty; to defile; as, to soil a garment with dust. [1913 Webster]

Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

2. To stain or mar, as with infamy or disgrace; to tarnish; to sully. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Syn: To foul; dirt; dirty; begrime; bemire; bespatter; besmear; daub; bedaub; stain; tarnish; sully; defile; pollute. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

Soil \Soil\, v. t. To enrich with soil or muck; to manure. [1913 Webster]

Men . . . soil their ground, not that they love the dirt, but that they expect a crop. --South. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

Soil \Soil\, v. i. To become soiled; as, light colors soil sooner than dark ones. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

Soil \Soil\, n. [See Soil to make dirty, Soil a miry place.]

That which soils or pollutes; a soiled place; spot; stain. [1913 Webster]

A lady's honor . . . will not bear a soil. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

Soil \Soil\, n. [OF. soil, souil, F. souille, from OF. soillier, F. souiller. See Soil to make dirty.]

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. [1913 Webster]

As deer, being stuck, fly through many soils, Yet still the shaft sticks fast. --Marston. [1913 Webster]

To take soil, to run into the mire or water; hence, to take refuge or shelter. [1913 Webster]

O, sir, have you taken soil here? It is well a man may reach you after three hours' running. --B. Jonson. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

185 Moby Thesaurus words for "soil": abuse, acres, adobe, airspace, alluvion, alluvium, arable land, area, attaint, bedaub, befoul, begrime, belt, benasty, besmear, besmirch, besmoke, besmutch, besoil, bespatter, bestain, betray, black, blacken, blot, blotch, blow upon, blur, bole, brand, call names, censure, china clay, clay, clod, confines, contaminate, continental shelf, corridor, corrupt, country, crust, darken, daub, debauch, deceive, defame, defile, deflower, demoralize, denigrate, department, despoil, dirt, dirty, disapprove, discolor, disgrace, disparage, district, division, drabble, draggle, dregs, dry land, dust, earth, engage in personalities, environs, excrement, expose, expose to infamy, filth, force, foul, freehold, gibbet, glebe, grassland, ground, gumbo, hang in effigy, heap dirt upon, heartland, hinterland, humus, kaolin, land, landholdings, lead astray, lithosphere, loam, loess, marginal land, mark, marl, mess, milieu, mire, mislead, mold, motherland, muck, muckrake, mucky, mud, muddy, murk, nasty, neighborhood, offshore rights, part, parts, pillory, place, pollute, porcelain clay, precincts, premises, purlieus, quarter, rape, ravage, ravish, real estate, real property, red clay, refuse, region, regolith, reprimand, revile, ruin, salient, sand, scorch, sear, section, seduce, silt, singe, slubber, sludge, slur, smear, smirch, smoke, smooch, smouch, smudge, smut, smutch, sod, soilage, soilure, space, spoil, spot, stain, stigmatize, subaerial deposit, subsoil, sully, taint, tar, tarnish, terra, terra firma, terrain, territory, the country, three-mile limit, throw mud at, till, topsoil, turf, twelve-mile limit, vicinage, vicinity, vilify, violate, vitiate, waste matter, woodland, zone

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

soil

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Soil \Soil\, v. i. To become soiled; as, light colors soil sooner than dark ones.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Soil \Soil\, n. [See Soil to make dirty, Soil a miry place.]

That which soils or pollutes; a soiled place; spot; stain.

A lady's honor . . . will not bear a soil. --Dryden.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Soil \Soil\, v. t. To enrich with soil or muck; to manure.

Men . . . soil their ground, not that they love the dirt, but that they expect a crop. --South.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Soil \Soil\, n. [OF. soil, souil, F. souille, from OF. soillier, F. souiller. See Soil to make dirty.]

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.

As deer, being stuck, fly through many soils, Yet still the shaft sticks fast. --Marston.

To take soil, to run into the mire or water; hence, to take refuge or shelter.

O, sir, have you taken soil here? It is well a man may reach you after three hours' running. --B. Jonson.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Soil \Soil\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Soiled; p. pr. & vb. n. Soiling.]

[OF. saoler, saouler, to satiate, F. so[^u]ler, L. satullare, fr. satullus, dim. of satur sated. See Satire.]

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Soil \Soil\, n. [OE. soile, F. sol, fr. L. solum bottom, soil; but the word has probably been influenced in form by soil a miry place. Cf. Saloon, Soil a miry place, Sole of the foot.]

1. 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.

2. Land; country.

Must I thus leave thee, Paradise? thus leave Thee, native soil? --Milton.

3. Dung; f[ae]ces; compost; manure; as, night soil.

Improve land by dung and other sort of soils. --Mortimer.

Soil pipe, a pipe or drain for carrying off night soil.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Soil \Soil\, v. t.[OE. soilen, OF. soillier, F. souiller, (assumed) LL. suculare, fr. L. sucula a little pig, dim. of sus a swine. See Sow, n.]

1. To make dirty or unclean on the surface; to foul; to dirty; to defile; as, to soil a garment with dust.

Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained. --Milton.

2. To stain or mar, as with infamy or disgrace; to tarnish; to sully. --Shak.

Syn: To foul; dirt; dirty; begrime; bemire; bespatter; besmear; daub; bedaub; stain; tarnish; sully; defile; pollute.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)