Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A protective covering, usually of organic matter such as leaves, straw, or peat, placed around plants to prevent the evaporation of moisture, the freezing of roots, and the growth of weeds.
- v. To cover or surround with mulch.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- See mulsh.
Wiktionary
- n. uncountable, agriculture Shredded vegetable (or occasionally mineral) matter used to cover the top layer of soil to protect, insulate, or decorate it, or to discourage weeds or retain moisture.
- n. countable, agriculture A material used as mulch, as a decorative redwood bark mulch.
- v. agriculture To apply mulch.
- v. agriculture To turn into mulch.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Half-rotten straw, or any similar light, porous, organic substance strewn on the ground, as over the roots of plants, to protect from heat, drought, etc., and to hinder weed growth and preserve moisture.
- v. To cover or dress with mulch.
WordNet 3.0
- v. cover with mulch
- n. a protective covering of rotting vegetable matter spread to reduce evaporation and soil erosion
Etymologies
- Probably from Middle English melsche, molsh ("soft"), from Old English melsc, milisc ("mellow, mild"). (Wiktionary)
- Probably from Middle English melsche, molsh, soft, from Old English melsc, mellow, mild; see mel-1 in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The rubber mulch is far better than the grass in the ground.”
“Incompletely extinguished cigarettes may smolder in mulch, leaves or potting soil until a breeze causes ignition, Teevan said.”
The Washington Post: Cigarette started fire that burned five Manassas homes, officials say
“Whilst my boys were having a good ole 'time up on the roof, I was doing what I do best - unloading mulch from the WTMC.”
“Quokka - just put a water lily on top pf the dead rats and call it mulch”
“And I am still not done, the mulch is too thin, although at least I have the hoe and a shovel now.”
“I'm here to tell you today that FIVE and a half yards, total, of mulch is a LOT of much.”
“Seems the lady believes the old saying should be, "Whiskey's for drinkin ', but mulch is for fightin'.”
“I wonder if it's that rubber mulch, which is kind of a red color.”
“We must, therefore, set out a fourth plot alongside the others, cover it with straw or cut grass (a cover like this is called a mulch), and take the temperature there.”
“The mulch is a covering of material that does not readily permit the escape of water.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘mulch’.
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Craigslist - stuff for sale
Random items from the Craigslist For Sale section. The poetry of stuff.
mooring rope, fluke anchor, skiff, massage books, marijuana law, 30 lbs of dog food, free geckoes, free dirt, chinchilla cage, binders - german ..., ruby lith film, sun tanning bed and 130 more...
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Wordnik Spam Inquiries
We get a lot of spam emails at Wordnik that fit this pattern: "Mr Bob Wilson here and i will like to know if you do have X for sale". The words on this list represent a subset of such requested items.
burnisher, shaper vise, salt spreader, soil pulveriser, bible, flutes, baffles, crucifix cross, proofer, gazebo, real bubble wrap, roller tray and 206 more...
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cindywrites's Words
chiaroscuro, mollycoddle, feckless, evocative, provocative, invocation, beckon, allay, becalm, console, lull, soothe and 479 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (M)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
mace, macintosh, madras, magenta, magic 8 ball, magma, mahogany, maiden, mail, mainsail, maize, malachite and 169 more...
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It's All Free
Things people are giving away on a bulletin board I frequent.
fairy dresses, microwave oven, bluetooth mouse, puppies, capsicum seedlings, dvds, pedometer, laptop, bicycle, mini-grill, bag of baby bottles, tent and 245 more...
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Man likes these words
danube, schadenfreude, macabre, wanderlust, epiphany, azure, zeitgeist, cerulean, ennui, rhine, abyss, mulch and 130 more...
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Reading Reading
Words from the works of Peter Reading - at least one from each (except the Schwitters-esque erosions, cut-ups etc).
overbright, pimpled, muskiness, effuse, stoup, maul, unlevel, viscid, perfidious, glibly, aloes, drouth and 449 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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samoritan's Words
moxie, zarf, crepuscular, serenity, halcyon, powerfuller, instant classic, abecedary, trilobite, doomsters, 'da bome, evanescence and 149 more...
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NakedFringe's Words
masticate, chamber, orchid, mandolin, yellow, pomegranate, conundrum, paradox, gyrate, calamitous, opalescent, cacophony and 533 more...
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kingrat47's Words
procrustean, devolution, cacophony, hippopotamus, crunch, beware, chortled, sibilant, subtle, undermine, acromegaly, acropolis and 645 more...
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danallison's Words
polysemy, self-reliance, savor, amenities, vintage, proverbial, colloquial, assemblage, ubiquitous, jocular, prosaic, perambulation and 443 more...
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botany for amateurs
edelweiss, heartsease, cherry blossom, crocus, belladonna, hibiscus, baby's breath, snapdragon, black-eyed susan, clover, mulch, peat and 91 more...
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D's Words
If you could "tag" people....
allemande, bebop, excessive, assiduous, bailiwick, bandana, befuddle, busker, disconcerting, clothespin, cogitate, cultivar and 55 more...
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habitat
Transforming our yard into a place for living things. The list and the yard will grow in tandem. I will add only as I plant (or discover volunteers).
serviceberry, elderberry, pagoda dogwood, american hazelnut, wild bergamot, spiderwort, rattlesnake master, crabapple, ostrich fern, echinacea, woodland phlox, river birch and 41 more...
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in the garden
blossom, bramble, orchid, harvest, ripen, orchard, bloom, wilt, petal, mulch, pod, thorn and 5 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for mulch.
yarb Citation on willowherb. Jun 22, 2008