mulch

UK: /mʌltʃ/ US: /mʌltʃ/ ,(mulch)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

mulch /mʌltʃ/   n. 

1. Botany a covering, as of straw, spread on the ground around plants to prevent loss of water or soil, etc.:
   [uncountable] Spread mulch around the plants.
   [countable] a good, solid mulch.

v. [~ + object]

2. Botany to cover with mulch.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

mulch  (mulch), n. 

1. Botany a covering, as of straw, compost, or plastic sheeting, spread on the ground around plants to prevent excessive evaporation or erosion, enrich the soil, inhibit weed growth, etc.

v.t. 

2. Botany to cover with mulch.

• 1650–60; noun, nominal use of obsolete mulch (adjective, adjectival), Middle English molsh soft, Old English myl(i)sc mellow; cognate with dialect, dialectal German molsch soft, overripe

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

mulch / mʌltʃ/ noun

1. half-rotten vegetable matter, peat, etc, used to prevent soil erosion or enrich the soil

verb

1. (transitive) to cover (the surface of land) with mulch

Etymology: 17th Century: from obsolete mulch soft; related to Old English mylisc mellow; compare dialect German molsch soft, Latin mollis soft