What does compost mean?

Definitions for compost
ˈkɒm poʊstcom·post

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word compost.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. compostverb

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

  2. compostverb

    convert to compost

    "compost organic debris"

Wiktionary

  1. compostnoun

    The decayed remains of organic matter that has rotted into a natural fertilizer

    Dig plenty of compost into clay or sandy soil to improve its structure.

  2. compostverb

    To produce compost, let organic matter decay into fertilizer

    If you compost your grass clippings, you can improve your soil.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. COMPOSTnoun

    A mixture of various substances for enriching the ground; manure.

    Etymology: Fr. compositum, Lat.

    We also have great variety of composts and soils, for the making of the earth fruitful. Francis Bacon, Atlantis.

    Avoid what is to come,
    And do not spread the compost on the weeds,
    To make them ranker. William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

    Water young planted shrubs, amomum especially, which you can hardly refresh too often, and it requires abundant compost. John Evelyn, Kalendar.

    There, as his dream foretold, a cart he found,
    That carry’d compost forth to dung the ground. Dryden.

    In vain the nursling grove
    Seems fair a while, cherish’d with softer earth;
    But when the alien compost is exhaust,
    Its native poverty again prevails. Philips.

  2. To Compostverb

    To manure; to enrich with soil.

    Etymology: from the noun.

    By removing into worse earth, or forbearing to compost the earth, water-mint turneth into field-mint, and the colewort into rape. Francis Bacon, Natural History, №. 518.

    As for earth, it composteth itself; for I knew a garden that had a field poured upon it, and it did bear fruit excellently. Francis Bacon, Natural History, №. 596.

Wikipedia

  1. Compost

    Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by decomposing plant, food waste, recycling organic materials and manure. The resulting mixture is rich in plant nutrients and beneficial organisms, such as bacteria, protozoa, nematodes and fungi. Compost improves soil fertility in gardens, landscaping, horticulture, urban agriculture, and organic farming, reducing dependency on commercial chemical fertilizers. The benefits of compost include providing nutrients to crops as fertilizer, acting as a soil conditioner, increasing the humus or humic acid contents of the soil, and introducing beneficial microbes that help to suppress pathogens in the soil and reduce soil-borne diseases. At the simplest level, composting requires gathering a mix of 'greens' (green waste) and 'browns' (brown waste). Greens are materials rich in nitrogen such as leaves, grass, and food scraps. Browns are woody materials rich in carbon, such as stalks, paper, and wood chips. The materials break down into humus in a process taking months. Composting can be 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 in a process using open piles or "windrows." Fungi, earthworms, and other detritivores further break up the organic material. Aerobic bacteria and fungi manage the chemical process by converting the inputs into heat, carbon dioxide, and ammonium. Composting is an important part of waste management, since food and other compostable materials make up about 20% of waste in landfills, and these materials take longer to biodegrade in the landfill. Composting offers an environmentally superior alternative to using organic material for landfill because composting reduces anaerobic methane emissions, and provides economic and environmental co-benefits. For example, compost can also be used for land and stream reclamation, wetland construction, and landfill cover.

ChatGPT

  1. compost

    Compost is a type of organic matter that has been recycled and decomposed in a process called composting. It consists largely of rotting vegetable matter such as leaves, grass cuttings and kitchen scraps which have been broken down by bacteria, fungi, worms, and other organisms. Compost is often used as a soil amendment in gardening and farming because it enriches the soil with nutrients and improves its structure.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Compostnoun

    a mixture; a compound

  2. Compostnoun

    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

  3. Compostverb

    to manure with compost

  4. Compostverb

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

  5. Etymology: [OF. compost, fr. L. compositus, p. p. See Composite.]

Wikidata

  1. Compost

    Compost 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 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. Aerobic bacteria manage the chemical process by converting the inputs into heat, carbon dioxide and ammonium. The ammonium is further converted by bacteria into plant-nourishing nitrites and nitrates through the process of nitrification. Compost can be 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. Organic ingredients intended for composting can alternatively be used to generate biogas through anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is fast overtaking composting in some parts of the world including central Europe as a primary means of downcycling waste organic matter.

Editors Contribution

  1. compost

    A type of matter created in various ways from various materials.

    They filled the hanging baskets and plant pots with compost before planting the spring flowers.


    Submitted by MaryC on August 5, 2015  

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of compost in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of compost in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of compost in a Sentence

  1. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray:

    Seattle is only weeks into our nation-leading program, and it looks like we are well on our way to achieving 38,000 additional tons of compost per year, our goal for year three of the program.

  2. Jenn Tompkins:

    It changes the mindset of people when they know where food comes from, pretty soon they'll have tomato plants and be turning the chicken manure into compost.

  3. Farmer Phub Zam:

    Now, from leaves to cow dung to chicken poop, everything is used, i have no trash, only compost.

  4. Farmer Phub Zam:

    I apply organic manure that I compost right at home, the imported vegetables do not taste so good.

  5. Masanobu Fukuoka:

    One thing is all things. To resolve one matter, one must resolve all matters. Changing one thing changes all things. Once I made the decision to sow rice in the fall, I found that I could also stop transplanting, and plowing, and applying chemical fertilizers, and preparing compost, and spraying pesticides.

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Translations for compost

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"compost." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/compost>.

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