night soil

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This strategy became necessary after an errant tomato plant sprouted from a visitor's night soil back in the 1960s.

From Scientific American • Oct. 19, 2023

Often in exchange for a fee paid to each household, farmers collected what was called night soil at regular intervals to fashion into fertile compost.

From Salon • Dec. 21, 2021

The problems of chamber pots — also known as “jerries, night soil, commodes, slop jars, close stools and thunder mugs” — also contributed to this noisome mix.

From Washington Post • Nov. 4, 2016

Companies such as Clivus Multrum supply not only the toilet and the composter, but also a service of emptying it, just like the night soil men did 200 years ago.

From The Guardian • Jul. 15, 2014

We hide amongst the banana trees that have sprung up all around his latrine, even while it gives us the creeps knowing all this lush growth is fertilized by such a disgusting man’s night soil.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver