marl

plural marls · alternative marle

1. countableuncountableA mixed earthy substance, consisting of carbonate of lime, clay, and possibly sand, in very variable proportions, and accordingly designated as calcareous, clayey, or sandy.

   Those loved unhappy shades whom Dante turned / To sticks and marl

   2004, Peter Porter, “Why Did Dante Pick on Suicides”, in Afterburner

   5 more examples

   Marle is indeed, as it is in name, the fat or (marrovv) of the earth: […] it is therfore a fat, oyly and vnctious ground, lying in the belly of the earth, vvhich is of vvarme and moiſt temperature, and ſo moſt fertill, ſeeing that heat and moyſture be the father and mother of generation and grovvth; […] Foure ſorts of Marle be found in this VVeald, knovvne aſunder by the difference of colours, and thereby alſo differing in degrees of goodneſſe one from the other: […]

   1625, attributed to Gervase Markham, “A Discourse of the Weald of Kent; and a Comparison of the Arable Lands therein, with the Other Parts of the Shire: Together with Some Necessary Counsels for the Ordering and Inriching of the Marleable Lands in the Weald, or Generally in Any Part of this Kingdome”, in The Inrichment of the Weald of Kent: Or, A Direction to the Husbandman, for the True Ordering, Manuring, and Inriching of All the Grounds within the Wealds of Kent and Sussex, […], London: […] G[eorge] P[urslowe] for Roger Iackson, […], →OCLC, pages 7–8

   ... uneasie steps / Over the burning Marle, not like those steps / On Heavens Azure...

   1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC

   Mr. Greenshields was the contractor selected to build the embankment, and over a hundred thousand tons of marl and moss compacted with brushwood were used in its construction.

   1952 July, W. R. Watson, “Sankey Viaduct and Embankment”, in Railway Magazine, pages 486-487

   Important marl and marine-shell deposits are worked in Michigan, Virginia, and Florida.

   1955, Robert Herman Bogue, The chemistry of portland cement, page 39

   The surroundings were unearthly. It was not a fish setting—only bare rock, no trees, pungent sagebrush, and marl dust floating when a truck passed.

   1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 231

present singular third person marls · participle present marling · participle past marled · past marled

1. transitiveTo cover (the ground) with marl (noun sense).

   1 more example

   [I]n this ſhort time vve haue ſeene many arable grounds, vvhich for ſundry yeeres after the marling of them, haue plentifully borne VVheat and other Graine, to be novv become vnfruitfull, and ſo vvill they continue, albeit they ſhould novv [be] marled againe. And this commeth to paſſe by the ignorance of the right manner of ordering the Marle, […]

   1625, attributed to Gervase Markham, “A Discourse of the Weald of Kent; and a Comparison of the Arable Lands therein, with the Other Parts of the Shire: Together with Some Necessary Counsels for the Ordering and Inriching of the Marleable Lands in the Weald, or Generally in Any Part of this Kingdome”, in The Inrichment of the Weald of Kent: Or, A Direction to the Husbandman, for the True Ordering, Manuring, and Inriching of All the Grounds within the Wealds of Kent and Sussex, […], London: […] G[eorge] P[urslowe] for Roger Iackson, […], →OCLC, page 5

present singular third person marls · participle present marling · participle past marled · past marled

1. nauticalTo cover, as part of a rope, with marline, marking a peculiar hitch at each turn to prevent unwinding.

   Synonyms: marline

plural marls

1. AustraliaA species of bandicoot, Perameles myosurus, of southern Western Australia.

   Synonyms: western barred bandicoot