loam

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

loam, n. [AS. lām; akin to D. leem, G. lehm, and E. lime. See 4th Lime.].

•  A kind of soil; an earthy mixture of clay and sand, with organic matter to which its fertility is chiefly due.  [1913 Webster]

  "We wash a wall of loam; we labor in vain."  [1913 Webster]
•  A mixture of sand, clay, and other materials, used in making molds for large castings, often without a pattern.  [1913 Webster]

Loam mold (Founding), a mold made with loam. See Loam, n., 2. -- Loam molding, the process or business of making loam molds. Loam plate, an iron plate upon which a section of a loam mold rests, or from which it is suspended. -- Loam work, loam molding or loam molds.

loam, v. i. 

 To cover, smear, or fill with loam.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

loam, n.
1 a fertile soil of clay and sand containing decayed vegetable matter.
2 a paste of clay and water with sand, chopped straw, etc., used in making bricks, plastering, etc.

Derivative

loamy adj. loaminess n.

Etymology

OE lam f. WG, rel. to LIME(1)

ROGET THESAURUS

loam

Land

N land, earth, ground, dry land, terra firma, continent, mainland, peninsula, chersonese, delta, tongue of land, neck of land, isthmus, oasis, promontory, highland, coast, shore, scar, strand, beach, playa, bank, lea, seaboard, seaside, seabank, seacoast, seabeach, ironbound coast, loom of the land, derelict, innings, alluvium, alluvion, ancon, riverbank, river bank, levee, soil, glebe, clay, loam, marl, cledge, chalk, gravel, mold, subsoil, clod, clot, rock, crag, acres, real estate, landsman, earthy, continental, midland, coastal, littoral, riparian, alluvial, terrene, landed, predial, territorial, geophilous, ripicolous, ashore, on shore, on land.