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DictionarysumpLiquid collection pit
noun

sump

SUMP/sʌmp/

A pit or reservoir where liquid collects for drainage or pumping.

Water collects in the sump before the pump removes it.

A simple cutaway of a drainage sump beneath a concrete floor: water from a sloping inlet channel collects in a recessed pit, with a small submersible pump and discharge pipe showing its drainage purpose.
Etymology
sumpMiddle Dutchmarsh, morass

The ancestor is either Middle Dutch somp or Middle Low German sump; the early English meaning was “marsh, morass.” That sense of waterlogged ground narrowed to a water-collecting pit in mining.

In context

Martin Zero3:29
before this was abandoned and used as a as a sump for the mine
Investigating Lancashire Coal mines

More examples

  • The pump emptied the sump automatically.
  • Oil drained into a sump beneath the engine.
  • The crew cleared debris from the sump.

Forms

sump · sumps

Similar words

reservoir
Reservoir is any storage basin; a sump is a low collecting space for drainage or pumping.
drain
A drain carries liquid away; a sump collects it before removal.