topsoil.

The upper layer of soil, where most plant roots and much decaying organic matter are found.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• rich topsoil
• topsoil erosion

On the page

Runoff carried the topsoil into the road and left pale clay exposed.

Usage notes

Primary category: setting / environment. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: setting, description. Commonness: moderately common.