noun / verb
manure
muh-NOOR/məˈnʊr/
Animal dung used to fertilize soil.
The gardener spreads manure between the vegetable rows.
Etymology
Hand-work first referred to cultivating land. That agricultural sense narrowed to treating soil with fertilizing materials, and the noun came to name the dung or compost used for the job.
In context
The straw they used was old bedding straw hauled out of the animal sheds, already churned together with manure, because fresh straw was too valuable to waste on a wall.
More examples
- They manured the field.
- The soil needed manure.
- She is manuring the garden.
Forms
manure · manures · manured · manuring
Similar words
- compost
- Decomposed organic material, not necessarily animal waste.
- fertilizer
- Any substance supplying plant nutrients.