hardpan
USHARD-pan/ˈhɑɹdˌpæn/UKHAHD-pan/ˈhɑːdpæn/
Pluralhardpans
- 1A hard layer of packed soil that water cannot pass through easily.
Like a hidden floor of stone under the soil that stops water from sinking down.
The roots could not push through the hardpan beneath the garden.
Farmers broke up the hardpan so rain could soak into the field.
Note
- 2A flat, dry area that was once the bottom of a lake.
Like the flat, cracked bottom of a puddle after it dries up: but huge.
They raced their car across the cracked hardpan under the desert sun.
Nothing grew on the flat hardpan where the water had dried up long ago.
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Note
Practice
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Origin
It comes from the words "hard" and "pan" joined together.