sluice
/sluːs/noun, verb
sluice is spelled S-L-U-I-C-E: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sluice means “An artificial passage for water, fitted with a valve or gate, for example in a canal lock or a mill stream, for stopping or regulating the flow” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sluice is sluices.
How many letters and syllables are in sluice?
| Letters | 6: S-L-U-I-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,363rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sluice?
Sluice appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sluice?
- /sluːs/
- /ˈslʉs/
- /sljuːs/
Sluice has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sluice.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sluice
- sluices plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- sluicing participle, present
- sluiced participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sluice mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An artificial passage for water, fitted with a valve or gate, for example in a canal lock or a mill stream, for stopping or regulating the flow.
- 2
A water gate or floodgate.
- 3
Hence, an opening or channel through which anything flows; a source of supply.
- 4
The stream flowing through a floodgate.
- 5
A long box or trough through which water flows, used for washing auriferous earth.
- 6
An instance of wh-stranding ellipsis, or sluicing.
verb
- 1
rareTo emit by, or as by, flood gates.
- 2
To wet copiously, as by opening a sluice
- 3
To wash with, or in, a stream of water running through a sluice.
to sluice earth or gold dust in a sluice box in placer mining
- 4
To wash (down or out).
- 5
To flow, pour.
- 6
To elide the complement in a coordinated wh-question. See sluicing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sluice in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | écluse |
| German | Schleuse, Schleusentor, Siel |
| Portuguese | eclusa |
| Spanish | esclusa, presa, compuerta (sluicegate), aguatocho , embalsar , lavar en agua corriente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sluice come from?
From Middle English sluse, alteration of scluse, from Anglo-Norman escluse (“sluice, floodgate”), from Late Latin exclusa (“extrusion, gate”), from Latin exclūsus, form of exclūdō (“to shut out, to exclude”) (English exclude). Cognate to Dutch sluis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).