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

After previous wildfires, the Army Corps would first scrape 6 inches of topsoil from cleared properties and then test the ground underneath.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 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

Mostly she watched...everything: us kids playing in the river, the way the trees tilted to the north towards what was left of the natural landscape beyond the clear-cuts stripped of topsoil.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline