sump
/sʌmp/ noun, verb
Forms sumps sumping sumped sumph
- noun A hollow or pit into which liquid drains, such as a cesspool, cesspit or sink.
- noun The lowest part of a mineshaft into which water drains.
- noun A completely flooded cave passage, sometimes passable by diving.
- noun (automotive) The crankcase or oil reservoir of an internal combustion engine.
- noun (nautical) The pit at the lowest point in a circulating or drainage system (FM 55-501).
- noun (construction) An intentional depression around a drain or scupper that promotes drainage.
- noun (Scotland) A sudden or heavy fall of rain; a deluge.
- verb (intransitive) Of a cave passage, to end in a sump, or to fill completely with water on occasion. “We discovered a new passage, but it sumped after 100 metres.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English sompe, either from Middle Dutch somp, sump or Middle Low German sump from Old Saxon *sump, from Proto-West Germanic *sump, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sumpaz. Doublet of swamp.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A round pit of stone, lined with clay, for receiving the metal on its first fusion. Ray.
- noun The cistern or reservoir made at the lowest point of a mine, from which is pumped the water which accumulates there.
Etymology [Cf. G. sumpf a sump in a mine, a swamp, akin to LG. sump, D. somp a swamp, Dan. & Sw. sump, and perhaps to E. swamp.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sump”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details