n. [ OF. escluse, F. écluse, LL. exclusa, sclusa, from L. excludere, exclusum, to shut out: cf. D. sluis sluice, from the Old French. See Exclude. ]
Each sluice of affluent fortune opened soon. Harte. [ 1913 Webster ]
This home familiarity . . . opens the sluices of sensibility. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]
Sluice gate,
v. t.
He dried his neck and face, which he had been sluicing with cold water. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. An artificial channel into which water is let by a sluice; specifically, a trough constructed over the bed of a stream, so that logs, lumber, or rubbish can be floated down to some convenient place of delivery. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Falling copiously or in streams, as from a sluice. [ 1913 Webster ]
And oft whole sheets descend of sluicy rain. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. [ 1st pref. un- + sluice. ] To sluice; to open the sluice or sluices of; to let flow; to discharge. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]