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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
compost
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
compost heap
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
potting
▪ Pot the tubers with their crowns exposed in a loam-free potting compost.
▪ Soak drills beforehand and cover the seeds with moist peat or old potting compost in dry weather.
▪ I got a little work-bench in there, and me stores of sprays and weed-killers and potting compost.
▪ Fill pots with firmed, damp potting compost.
▪ Never use the same potting compost two years running.
▪ Plant tubers in a 6in tray of moist potting compost so that their tops are just covered.
▪ Fill the rest of the tray almost to the top with potting compost.
▪ Under no circumstances use the peat-based seed or potting compost formulated for the growing of bedding and pot plants.
■ NOUN
garden
▪ Another similar material is the partly rotted plant material in garden compost heaps.
▪ At first she dumped the garden waste, but she soon realized this would make excellent garden compost.
▪ Fork garden compost or manure into the bottom and sprinkle a handful of bonemeal to each metre.
▪ It must not be waterlogged, but when improved with garden compost or manure it is ideal.
▪ The removed compost, about 30 I in volume, was added to the garden compost heap.
▪ Water thoroughly then mulch with a generous layer of peat, composted bark or garden compost.
heap
▪ An alternative to digging in the green manure in spring is to cut and add the material to the compost heap.
▪ The compost heap was outside, not in her bedroom.
▪ Always remove rose prunings, leaves, blooms and other bits to the fire and not to the compost heap.
▪ The acidity in the citrus is excellent for raising the acid level in the compost heap.
▪ There is a corker gathering steam not far from my cottage over the siting of a compost heap.
▪ Instead of tossing my garbage over the deck, I must tend it in a compost heap.
▪ That makes sense, but they can't be accurate because compost heaps generate heat which might accelerate decomposition.
▪ So keep up the heat in your compost heap by covering it with black plastic sheets, old carpets or sacking.
■ VERB
keep
▪ Check the bowls periodically and give them enough water if necessary to keep the compost evenly damp.
▪ Stand the pot in a saucer and keep the compost moist.
▪ Ferns like a bright position out of strong direct sunlight. Keep compost just nicely moist.
▪ Overwinter in a cool greenhouse, keeping the compost slightly moist to help roots form.
▪ There are many types of bin sold to keep the compost area tidy and clean, or you can make your own.
make
▪ Would efficient sewage companies make a profit from compost and give rebates to prolific producers?
▪ At first she dumped the garden waste, but she soon realized this would make excellent garden compost.
▪ They include using straw to make compost, paper ... and even chocolate cake.
▪ I built up my soil, added trace elements, made compost, never used herbicides or chemical insecticides.
▪ We're betting that next year he too will be making compost.
use
▪ They include using straw to make compost, paper ... and even chocolate cake.
▪ Always use fresh compost and if you find them treat straight away.
▪ Never use the same potting compost two years running.
▪ You are freed from the tyranny of a limy soil as long as you use an ericaceous compost.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The trees will be cut up and used to make compost.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Also on sale are seeds, chemicals, compost, fencing and Branson wooden garden furniture.
▪ Dip the base into a hormone rooting compound and insert into a free-draining compost.
▪ For top results from these wonder plants, Peter suggests planting them in fresh multi-purpose compost.
▪ However, if cracks do appear, you should try brushing a mixture of peat or compost and coarse sand into them.
▪ Infill with compost so that there are no air pockets around the roots.
▪ The compost is ready when the pile is transformed into crumbly soil.
▪ They need a site with plenty of old compost or humus-based fertiliser worked in.
▪ This is set on one side to start again after emptying out your reward, the valuable compost.
II.verb
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Burn the old growth rather than composting it.
▪ Cut back any plants around pond edges that are dying back, and compost them before they pollute the water.
▪ Organic household waste can be composted to make garden fertilizer.
▪ The best way to prepare citrus for composting is to cut the fruit up so it can break down easier.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Compost

Compost \Com"post\ (?; 277), n. [OF. compost, fr. L. compositus, p. p. See Composite.]

  1. A mixture; a compound. [R.]

    A sad compost of more bitter than sweet.
    --Hammond.

  2. (Agric.) A mixture for fertilizing land; esp., a composition of various substances (as muck, mold, lime, and stable manure) thoroughly mingled and decomposed, as in a compost heap.

    And do not spread the compost on the weeds To make them ranker.
    --Shak.

Compost

Compost \Com"post\, v. t.

  1. To manure with compost.

  2. To mingle, as different fertilizing substances, in a mass where they will decompose and form into a compost.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
compost

late 14c., compote, from Old French composte "mixture of leaves, manure, etc., for fertilizing land" (13c.), also "condiment," from Vulgar Latin *composita, noun use of fem. of Latin compositus, past participle of componere "to put together" (see composite). The fertilizer sense is attested in English from 1580s, and the French word in this sense is a 19th century borrowing from English.

compost

"make into compost," 1829, from compost (n.). Related: Composted; composting.

Wiktionary
compost

n. 1 The decayed remains of organic matter that has rotted into a natural fertilizer 2 (context obsolete English) A mixture; a compound. vb. To produce compost, let organic matter decay into fertilizer

WordNet
compost

n. a mixture of decaying vegetation and manure; used as a fertilizer

compost

v. convert to compost; "compost organic debris"

Wikipedia
Compost

Compost ( or ) is organic matter that has been decomposed and recycled as a fertilizer and soil amendment. Compost is a key ingredient in organic farming.

At the simplest level, the process of composting simply requires making a heap of wetted organic matter known as green waste (leaves, food waste) and waiting for the materials to break down into humus after a period of weeks or months. Modern, methodical composting is a multi-step, closely monitored process with measured inputs of water, air, and carbon- and nitrogen-rich materials. The decomposition process is aided by shredding the plant matter, adding water and ensuring proper aeration by regularly turning the mixture. Worms and fungi further break up the material. Bacteria requiring oxygen to function ( aerobic bacteria) and fungi manage the chemical process by converting the inputs into heat, carbon dioxide and ammonium. The ammonium (NH) is the form of nitrogen used by plants. When available ammonium is not used by plants it is further converted by bacteria into nitrates (NO) through the process of nitrification.

Compost is rich in nutrients. It is used in gardens, landscaping, horticulture, and agriculture. The compost itself is beneficial for the land in many ways, including as a soil conditioner, a fertilizer, addition of vital humus or humic acids, and as a natural pesticide for soil. In ecosystems, compost is useful for erosion control, land and stream reclamation, wetland construction, and as landfill cover (see compost uses). Organic ingredients intended for composting can alternatively be used to generate biogas through anaerobic digestion.

Compost (album)

Compost (also titled Take Off Your Body) is the eponymous debut album from Compost. It features Jack DeJohnette, Bob Moses, Harold Vick, Jack Gregg and Jumma Santos recorded in 1971 and released on Columbia Records.

Compost (band)

Compost was an American jazz fusion ensemble, that released two albums for Columbia Records.

Its members were Bob Moses, Harold Vick, Jumma Santos, Jack Gregg and Jack DeJohnette. Their second album, Life Is Round, also featured Roland Prince, Ed Finney, Jeanne Lee and Lou Courntey.

Usage examples of "compost".

She recited the instructions as if Andi was there to wash her windows or turn her compost.

And also it was a marvel to see in that castle how by magic they make a compost out of fecund wheatkidneys out of Chaldee that by aid of certain angry spirits that they do in to it swells up wondrously like to a vast mountain.

Sari presented her list to the sergeant for his approval, before sending them to the composting beds.

It was pushed through the hidden gate in the wall and into the thick screen of forest that separated the compound from the fields and the stench-ridden composting area, where bodies were recycled into fertilizer.

In aerobic composting, the oxygen-consuming bacteria need air as they break down organic material.

She explains the difference between rotting and composting, that the needs of humans and the needs of compost are similar: oxygen, water, air temperature that does not stray far from 37 degrees centigrade.

Evans has plans to work with veterinarians in southern California to make composting available to pet owners.

If I was asking whether he wanted to make composting available to people, the answer was yes.

The hope was that someone like Paul Newman or Warren Beatty might do for composting what Timothy Leary did for space burials.

Wiigh-Masak must convince the people whose jobs will be affected should composting become a reality: the funeral directors, the coffin makers, the embalmers.

At one point, a balding man in a dark gray suit raised his hand to say that he thought composting took away the specialness of being human.

Catholic Church, to ask its opinion on freeze-drying and composting as an alternative to burial.

However, my specialties include meal preparation, catalytic fuel conversion, enzymatic composition breakdown, chemical diagnostic programming, and bacterial composting acceleration.

It was a clear extrinsic allergic alveolitis but I thought myself rather clever to have traced it to its cause, and when he followed my advice and gave up so much intense composting, he quickly came round, and hailed me as a wonder-worker.

The best way to return nutrients to the soil is to add organic matter through compost, mulch, organic fertilizers and cover crops.