topsoil

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.

In 1982, Agnes Denes planted 2 acres of wheat seed into a thin layer of topsoil she’d spread over lower Manhattan’s Battery Park landfill.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026

One method -- termed "moving mountains" -- was described in 2015 by China's top industry and technology regulator as "first cutting down trees, then clearing weeds and finally stripping away the topsoil, causing irreparable damage".

From Barron's • Dec. 21, 2025

The dung beetle, which disperses seeds as it rolls its dung balls, fertilizing topsoil and enhancing biodiversity and engineering its environment, normally orients itself using the Milky Way and the moon.

From Salon • Apr. 15, 2025

Soil testing in the aftermath of previous wildfires found that a significant portion of properties still had excessive levels of heavy metals even after cleanup crews removed a 3-to-6-inch layer of topsoil.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2025

On November 11 farmers in the Dakotas awoke after a windy night to find something they had never seen before—daytime skies turned black by topsoil scoured from their fields and carried aloft by the wind.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown