from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Sluice \Sluice\, n. [OF. escluse, F. ['e]cluse, LL. exclusa,
sclusa, from L. excludere, exclusum, to shut out: cf. D.
sluis sluice, from the Old French. See {Exclude}.]
1. An artifical passage for water, fitted with a valve or
gate, as in a mill stream, for stopping or regulating the
flow; also, a water gate or flood gate.
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2. Hence, an opening or channel through which anything flows;
a source of supply.
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Each sluice of affluent fortune opened soon.
--Harte.
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This home familiarity . . . opens the sluices of
sensibility. --I. Taylor.
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3. The stream flowing through a flood gate.
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4. (Mining) A long box or trough through which water flows,
-- used for washing auriferous earth.
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{Sluice gate}, the sliding gate of a sluice.
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