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# topsoil

«topsoil» in Mova's school dictionary: **the top layer of soil, usually dark, rich and full of…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (topsoil — uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

Topsoil is the top layer of soil, usually dark, rich and full of nutrients, where most plants grow their roots. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topsoil/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In science and geography lessons, topsoil lies over subsoil and rock; it contains humus from rotting plants, worms and tiny living things. Farmers and gardeners protect topsoil because wind and rain can wash it away (erosion). Phrases: a layer of topsoil, topsoil erosion, buy topsoil.

### examples

- Most plants grow their roots in the topsoil. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topsoil/#x1)
- Worms mix rotting leaves into the topsoil. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topsoil/#x2)
- Heavy rain can wash away the topsoil. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topsoil/#x3)
- We bought 3 bags of topsoil for the vegetable patch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topsoil/#x4)
- Topsoil is darker than the subsoil below it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topsoil/#x5)
- Trees help stop the topsoil from blowing away. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topsoil/#x6)
- It can take hundreds of years to form a few centimetres of topsoil. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topsoil/#x7)

### note

Uncountable noun: «some topsoil», «a bag of topsoil». One word. The layer below is «subsoil», then «bedrock».

### In the corpora

- [Soil has layers called horizons: dark topsoil, paler subsoil below, and broken rock above the bedrock.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/geography/56-soil/9/)
- [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 «topsoil» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/topsoil/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.