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The upper stratum of the earth; the mold, or that compound substance which furnishes nutriment to plants, or which is particularly adapted to support and nourish them.

pl. of Stratum.

s; or, the direction of a horizontal line supposed to be drawn on the surface of a tilted stratum. It is at right angles to the dip.

whether spiritual or material, inheres, or to which any of these appertain; substance; substratum. That which manifests its qualities -- in other words, that in which the appearing causes inhere, that to which they belong -- is called their subject or substance, or substratum. Sir W. Hamilton.

The bed, or stratum, of earth which lies immediately beneath the surface soil. Subsoil plow, a plow having a share and standard but no moldboard. It follows in the furrow made by an ordinary plow, and loosens the soil to an additional depth without bringing it to the surface. Knight.

That which underlies all outward manifestations; substratum; the permanent subject or cause of phenomena, whether material or spiritual; that in which properties inhere; that which is real, in distinction from that which is apparent; the abiding part of any existence, in distinction from any accident; that which consti…

A substratum. [R.]

To lay or impose on something else; as, a stratum of earth superimposed on another stratum. -- Su`per*im`po*si"tion, n.

mass of cellular tissue, consisting of one or more layers, usually in the form of a flat stratum or expansion, but sometimes erect or pendulous, and elongated and branching, and forming the substance of the thallogens.

A fault or interruption in a stratum. To get into trouble, to get into difficulty or danger. [Colloq.] -- To take the trouble, to be at the pains; to exert one's self; to give one's self inconvenience. She never took the trouble to close them. Bryant.

That upper stratum of earth and vegetable mold which is filled with the roots of grass and other small plants, so as to adhere and form a kind of mat; sward; sod. At his head a grass-green turf. Shak. The Greek historian sets her in the field on a high heap of turves. Milton.

A stratum of clay lying beneath a coal bed, often containing the roots of coal plants, especially the Stigmaria.

To lie under; to rest beneath; to be situated under; as, a stratum of clay underlies the surface gravel.

The soil beneath the surface; understratum; subsoil.

the dress of the Asiatics has been uniform from early ages; the temperature is uniform; a stratum of uniform clay. Whewell.