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# humus

«humus» in Mova's school dictionary: **The dark, rich part of soil made from dead and rotting…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (humus, uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

(science) The dark, rich part of soil made from dead and rotting leaves, plants and animals; it feeds plants. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/humus/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

A science and gardening word: humus makes soil fertile and holds water. Learned in lessons about soil, compost, decomposers and worms. Phrases: «rich in humus», «humus layer».

### examples

- Worms help turn dead leaves into humus. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/humus/#x1)
- Humus makes the soil dark and rich. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/humus/#x2)
- Plants grow well in soil full of humus. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/humus/#x3)
- Compost becomes humus over time. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/humus/#x4)
- The top layer of the forest floor is rich in humus. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/humus/#x5)
- Humus holds water like a sponge. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/humus/#x6)

### note

Uncountable: no plural. Trap: «humus» (soil) and «hummus» (a dip made from chickpeas) sound almost the same — «HYOO-mus» vs «HUM-us»; the food has double «m».

### In the corpora

- [Soil is a mix of tiny rock pieces, rotting plant and animal matter called humus, water, air and living things.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/56-soil/7/)
- [Soil is made of broken rock, humus, water, air and living things.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it/7/)
- [Humus is the dark material made from rotted plants and animals, and it is rich in nutrients.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it/8/)
- [Loam is a mix of sand, silt, clay and humus and is good for most plants.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it/13/)
- [Topsoil is the dark upper layer with the most humus and life; below it lie subsoil and then solid rock.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/63-soil-and-what-lives-in-it/14/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «humus» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/humus/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.