gumbo
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈɡʌmboʊ/
- Specialized
:
suelo arcilloso
- Ray had been killed in that same pickup when it had slid on the gumbo and pitched askew into the river bottom.
- gumbo mud
- gumbo soil
- thick gumbo
Examples
-
The deeper sections pooled before evaporating, and crawdads, little black-shelled snails, and late polliwogs gathered there in a living gumbo.
Fiction book (1998) -
The headlights were caked with gumbo and issued barely more than a glow.
Fiction book (1991) -
"I figure if we make one more good crop out of this gumbo clay, we might ought to be thinking of moving on."
Fiction book (2002) -
I thought of bean fields, rice paddies, buckshot, and gumbo.
Fiction book (1990) -
Instead of being mixed into the gumbo of the history that is taught, geography, as a topic, is isolated as a discrete serving to be presented in the first seventh-grade unit.
Academic text (2001) -
Houston, perched precariously on a gumbo of cracked soil and dry red clay, erupts in blue and green, tan and white.
Fiction book (1999) -
The following weekend, a few of us, who shall be unnamed, drove up the main canyon highway, turned off on a Forest Service road, and barreled through snowmelt and gumbo mud to the edge of the meadow.
Fiction book (1993) -
After the heavy rain, the garden's soil transformed into a thick layer of gumbo that was difficult to walk on.
-
Farmers need to be cautious, as the clay in this region can quickly turn into gumbo when it gets wet.
-
The old road became a slippery mess of gumbo, making it nearly impassable for vehicles during the rainy season.
Synonyms
Heavy, sticky ground that becomes hard to work after rain
Compounds
- Specialized
A tropical tree with smooth red bark that gives a sticky resin used for varnish
How Sticky
Surface Forms
Etymology
Gumbo for sticky, heavy soil probably comes from the same idea as the English word gum ('sticky') or from an African name for okra, a vegetable that makes food thick. So calling clay 'gumbo' helps you remember it becomes very sticky and will cling to your boots.