Word Finder - sand

definition

Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in construction.

definition

(often in the plural) A beach or other expanse of sand.

example

The Canadian tar sands are a promising source of oil.

definition

(circa 1920) Personal courage.

definition

A particle from 62.5 microns to 2 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.

definition

A light beige colour, like that of typical sand.

definition

A single grain of sand.

definition

A moment or interval of time; the term or extent of one's life (referring to the sand in an hourglass).

definition

Of a light beige colour, like that of typical sand.

The white sand was almost as blinding as snow.

He patted the sand beside him.

He scraped sand over the scorpion, burying it from her view.

They were out of the sand.

She shot back, kicking sand in his direction.

The white sand reflected the hot sun back at them until they were dripping with perspiration.

Sand flew as they soared and leapt through the desert.

The dry wind from the Sahara called harmattan, which carries great quantities of fine red sand, causes a fall of temperature in the (European) summer.

The soil should be a light and fairly rich compost, comprising about 2 parts loam, I part decayed manure or horse droppings that have been thoroughly sweetened, I part leaf mould and half a part of sand.

The coast, constantly encroaching on the sea by reason of the alluvium washed down by the rivers of the Pyrenees and Cvennes, is without important harbours saving that of Cette, itself continually invaded by the sand.

Since the sides of the pit consist of loose sand they afford an insecure foothold to any small insect that inadvertently ventures over the edge.

The sand of nearly all the rivers contains a varying proportion of gold.

At the temperature of the furnace the silica (sand) attacks the calcium phosphate, forming silicate, and setting free phosphorus pentoxide, which is attacked by the carbon, forming phosphorus and carbon monoxide.

Near Woolwich Common there are brick and tile kilns and sand and chalk pits, and there are extensive marketgardens in the locality.

The soil is for the most part glacial drift, composed of clay, sand and gravel, and varying greatly in depth.

On the higher elevations it is generally stony and sterile, but in the valleys and on many of the lower hills, where it consists largely of clay and sand, it is quite productive.

The oak grows most luxuriantly on deep strong clays, calcareous marl or stiff loam, but will flourish in nearly any deep well-drained soil, excepting peat or loose sand; in marshy or moist places the tree may grow well for a time, but the timber is rarely sound; on hard rocky ground and exposed hillsides.

Relieved from its load it does not, like other animals, seek the shade, even when that is to be found, but prefers to kneel beside its burden in the broad glare of the sun, seeming to luxuriate in the burning sand.

When overtaken by a dust-storm it falls on its knees, and stretching its neck along the sand, closes its nostrils and remains thus motionless till the atmosphere clears; and in this position it affords some shelter to its driver, who, wrapping his face in his mantle, crouches behind his beast.

Besides the delta of the Po and the large marshy tracts which it forms, there exist on both sides of it extensive lagoons of salt water, generally separated from the Adriatic by narrow strips of sand or embankments, partly natural and partly artificial, but havin openings which admit the influx and efflux of the sea-water, and serve as ports for communication with the mainland.

West, north and north-east of this the province is flat and consists of sea-clay or sand and clay mixed, except where patches of low and high fen occur on the Frisian borders.

The south-eastern portion of the province consists of high fen resting on diluvial sand.

The nodules from the "blue earth" have to be freed from matrix and divested of their opaque crust, which can be done in revolving barrels containing sand and water.

The sea-worn amber has lost its crust, but has often acquired a dull rough surface by rolling in sand.

The criticisms were directed chiefly to the inclusion of sand dune plants among halophytes, to the exclusion of halophytes from xerophytes, to the inclusion of bog xerophytes among hydrophytes, to the inclusion of all conifers among xerophytes and of all deciduous trees among mesophytes, and to the group of mesophytes in general.

Psammophytes.These are plants which grow on sand and al avel.

Physically and physiologically dry habitats, with the accompanying plant communities of sand dunes and sandy heaths with little humus in the soil.

The buds and ieaves on the exposed side are probably killed by sand blasts.

In relation to the latter theory, it is pointed out that some markedly calcicole species occur on sand dunes; but this may be due to the lime which is frequently present in dune sand as well as to the physical dryness of the soil.

In the log-glass the time is measured by running sand, which, however, is apt to be affected by the humidity of the atmosphere.

When all the sand has run through, the assistant calls "Stop!"

Slipping to the bottom the prey is immediately seized by the lurking ant-lion; or if it attempt to scramble again up the treacherous walls of the pit, is speedily checked in its efforts and brought down by showers of loose sand which are jerked at it from below by the larva.

The sand of the rivers contains monazite.

Gold is present in some abundance in the river sand of central Liberia, and native reports speak of the far interior as being rich in gold.

The loess was created by the drifting of fine sand and dust.

Vast areas in Russia are quite unfit for cultivation, 19% of the aggregate surface of European Russia (apart from Poland and Finland) being occupied by lakes, marshes, sand, &c., 39% by forests, 16% by prairies, and only 26% being under cultivation.

Drainage finding no outlet through the thick clay, the soil of the forest region is often hidden beneath extensive marshes, and the forests themselves are often mere thickets choking marshy ground; large tracts of sand appear in the W., and the admixture of boulders with the clay in the N.W.

Finally, in the S.E., towards the Caspian, on the slopes of the southern Urals and the plateau of Obshchiy Syrt, as also in the interior of the Crimea, and in several parts of Bessarabia, there are large tracts of real desert, buried under coarse sand and devoid of vegetation.

For days together the traveller sees no other vegetation; even this, however, disappears as he approaches the regions recently left dry by the Caspian, where saline clays, bearing a few Salsolaceae, or mere sand, take the place of the black earth.

The " northern soils," which are glacial deposits more or less redistributed by water, are much less fertile as a rule, and consist of all possible varieties from a tough boulder clay to loose sand.

The slopes of the sides vary according to the nature of the ground, the amount of moisture present, &c. In solid rock they may be vertical; in gravel, sand or common earth they must, to prevent slipping, rise r ft.

The subsoil was composed principally of clay and sand, and the railway had to be carried over the moss on the level, requiring cutting, and embanking for upwards of 4 m.

Sand, driven between the wheel and the rail by a steam jet, used just at starting, increases the adhesion beyond the normal value and enables a larger pressure to be exerted on the piston than would otherwise be possible.

To the southeast there are very extensive ruins of subterranean temples and other buildings half-buried in the sand by which the ancient town was overwhelmed.

These valleys are generally levelfloored, but at their borders gradually slope upward, and are filled, often to a depth of several thousand feet, with the detritus of gravel, sand and silt from the neighbouring hills.

Early-sown grain is often injured by flying sand and gravel.

The prevailing soils are sand and gravel loams, but other varieties are numerous, ranging from rich alluvial beds of extinct lakes, as in parts of Lyon and Esmeralda counties, to the strongly alkaline plains of the southern deserts.

Pascagoula and Point aux Chenes bays; separated from it by the shallow and practically unnavigable Mississippi Sound is a chain of low, long and narrow sand islands, the largest of which are Petit Bois, Horn, Ship and Cat.

Throughout the southern portion sand is a large ingredient, and to the northward there is more or less lime.

On the Coastal Plain the soil is generally sandy, but in nearly all parts of this region more or less marl abounds; south of the Neuse river the soil is mostly a loose sand, north of it there is more loam on the uplands, and in the lowlands the soil is usually compact with clay, silt or peat; toward the western border of the region the sand becomes coarser and some gravel is mixed with it.