sluice
part of speech
noun (a sluice, sluices); verb (sluice, sluices, sluiced, sluicing)
meaning for a pupil
1) A gate or channel that controls how much water flows in a river, canal or mill stream (also called a sluice gate). tree →
2) (verb) To wash something with lots of water: sluice down the yard. tree →
3) (verb) Of water: to pour or rush out. tree →
sense in the lessons
Geography and science: sluices control floods and water levels on rivers and canals, and turn mill wheels. In The Wind in the Willows the river runs past weirs, mills and locks. Everyday: farmers sluice out a cowshed; rain sluices down the street.
examples
- The farmer opened the sluice to let water into the field. tree →
- Water rushed through the sluice gate. tree →
- They sluiced down the muddy yard with a hose. tree →
- Rain sluiced down the windows. tree →
- The miller closed the sluice to stop the wheel. tree →
- Engineers built sluices to stop the town flooding. tree →
- Rikki-tikki tingled all over with rage and hatred at this, and then Nag’s head came through the sluice, and his five feet of cold body followed it. tree →
note
Say «sloos». Silent ui sound: s-l-oo-s. Safety: sluices and weirs have very strong currents — never swim near them.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «sluice» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.