sheath pile
- noun
- Specialized
- The engineers drove a row of sheath piles along the riverbank to prevent soil erosion.
Examples
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Water seepage was controlled by installing several sheath piles side by side.
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The construction project specified the use of steel sheath piles to reinforce the retaining wall.
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The engineer recommended using a sheath pile for the project.
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They installed several sheath piles along the riverbank.
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The construction project specified the use of steel sheath piles to reinforce the retaining wall.
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The engineers drove a row of sheath piles along the riverbank to prevent soil erosion.
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Water seepage was controlled by installing several sheath piles side by side.
Synonyms
A row of metal boards pushed into the ground to hold back soil or water
A long flat piece of metal, wood, or concrete driven into the ground to hold back soil and water
How Effective
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is transparently composed from 'sheath' (a covering) + 'pile' (a driven column), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a pile that has or is used as a sheath/lining. However, the precise technical sense — that these piles are installed side-by-side in a row to form a retaining or watertight barrier — is specialized engineering knowledge and not fully predictable from the basic constituents for a B1 learner.
Etymology
Sheath pile comes from the image of sheath as a protective cover and pile as a long post: picture metal or concrete piles placed side by side like shields along a riverbank to protect the soil. That's why sheath piles are rows of piles used 'to hold back soil' or 'to stop water'.