suffossion

English

Etymology

From Latin suffossio, from suffodere, suffossum (“to dig under”), from sub (“under”) + fodere (“to dig”).

Noun

suffossion (plural suffossions)

A digging underneath; an undermining.
- 1648, J[oseph] Hall, chapter XXXI, in Select Thoughts: Or, Choice Helps for a Pious Spirit. […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Brooke, […], published 1654, →OCLC, pages 98–99:
  O the vvoful deſolations of that ſelect people [Israel]! VVhat is it, to tell of the ſuffoſſion of her vineyards? vaſtation of her tents? the devouring of her land?
(geology) Internal erosion by liquid percolating through clay, sand, or silt.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “suffossion”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)