Definition of "compost"

And do not spread the compost on the weeds / To make them ranker.

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene iv]

[T]he very wet winter will have washed much of the goodness out of the soil. Homemade compost and the load of manure we get from a friendly farmer may not be enough to compensate for what has leached from the ground.

2014 April 21, Mary Keen, “You can still teach an old gardener new tricks: Even the hardiest of us gardeners occasionally learn useful new techniques ”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening)‎, page G7

[T]he term 'compost' is commonly used to mean the material used to fill pots, seed trays and containers.

Royal Horticultural Society, Organic matter: what is it?‎, retrieved 2021-03-29

A sad compost of more bitter than sweet.

a. 1660, Henry Hammond, God's Complaint Against Revolters