night soil
1
9.9
- noun
- NSFW
:
excremento nocturno
- Night soil, dung, and recycled crop wastes have been the traditional means of returning nitrogen to the soil system.
- night-soil man
Examples
-
In many rural areas, people rely on night soil as a natural fertilizer for their gardens.
-
The odorous night soil cart, pulled by hand, quickly picks up and disposes of its cargo.
Fiction book (1996) -
Ten buckets filled with night soil were reeking.
Fiction book (1995) -
Then they shouldered their loads of night soil and set out for Elm Village, where they lived.
Fiction book (1995) -
But they get the night soil pots out, emptied, washed, and put back before the bicycles and trams fill the streets.
Fiction book (1996) -
In Atlanta, backyard privies and outhouses were the norm, and scavengers and night-soil men remained popular.
Academic text (2010) -
Like most other cities of the time, Atlanta depended on night-soil men to remove waste from overflowing private privies and water closets.
Academic text (2010) -
Farmers often use night soil to enrich their fields and promote healthy crop growth.
-
The collection of night soil was a common practice before modern sanitation systems were established.
Synonyms
57
2.8
The waste animals produce that is often used to fertilize soil
2
1.8
Dung from cows that people put on soil to help plants grow
1
5.8
Treated sewage solids used as fertilizer to improve soil
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'human excrement collected and used as fertilizer' is not directly derivable from 'night' (a time period) + 'soil' (earth/dirt); a B1 learner would likely interpret it as 'soil at night' or be uncertain. The specialized, historical/technical sense is idiomatic and not predictable from the constituent meanings, so learners need prior exposure.
Etymology
The compound night soil comes from the simple image of waste taken from homes at night and spread on the soil of fields to help crops grow. So the phrase means 'human waste' used as 'fertilizer'.