to enrich the soil
1
3.2
- phrasal verb
:
enriquecer el suelo
- If you want to grow healthy vegetables, you should enrich the soil with organic compost.
- compost-enriched soil
- organically enriched soil
- enrich your garden soil
So I dig, try to leave it there to enrich the soil.
- So I dig, try to leave it there to enrich the soil.
- And then because of the death of these first plants, they actually enriched the soil and created nutrients for these new plants to come to the planet.
Examples
-
You see, the seaweed comes in from the ocean... and enriches the soil.
-
It is like some noxious weed, which can be eradicated in time with patient labor, but only after cultivating and enriching the soil in which it now grows.
Academic text (1992) -
And then because of the death of these first plants, they actually enriched the soil and created nutrients for these new plants to come to the planet.
-
I can't buy seeds without the little form, even though all I want to do is enrich the soil.
Blog text (4) -
Burning the dense natural vegetation enriches the soil and gives manioc a clear field, as it were, to get a head start on other plants.
Academic text (1992) -
Finally, organic farmers use phosphate tailings to enrich their soil.
Blog text (32) -
When plants die, the dead material enriches the soil with hummus, a stable mass of organic matter providing moisture and nutrients for other plants to grow.
-
Along with their pharmaceutical potential, the special-purpose legumes also fix nitrogen, enriching the soil and making them ideal candidate crops for sustainable agriculture.
Academic text (1996) -
It enriches the soil so much that it paves the way for grasses and shrubs to thrive and even dominate the landscape.
Academic text (2002) -
Gardeners often add mulch to enrich the soil and retain moisture during the warm months.
Synonyms
85
3.9
To make something better by adding knowledge or nutrients
49
3.2
To give food and care so a person, animal, or plant grows and stays healthy
5
3.7
To give ideas or support that help something grow
4
5.2
To cover soil with leaves or wood chips to keep it moist, stop weeds, and improve the soil
Add plant food to the soil so crops grow better
To add nutrients to soil so plants grow better
Antonyms
How Fertile
- Specialized
1
6.4
1
3.2
- US
12
3.4
119
3.9
2
3.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to improve the quality of soil by adding nutrients or organic material' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'enrich' (to add something to raise quality) with 'soil' (earth), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the MWE. The construction is a straightforward verb + noun composition common in agricultural contexts and cross-linguistically, with no idiomatic or metaphorical shift that would block comprehension.
Etymology
Enrich the soil comes from farmers and gardeners adding compost or manure to the ground. To enrich means to make the soil richer with nutrients so plants grow better, and that's why it means 'to improve the quality of soil by adding nutrients or organic material'.